


who u gonna call? KEITH KO-GANE

by wowimnervos



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Coran the landlord, Everyone is older than in canon, F/M, Ghost Shiro, Keith and Lance screaming at each other, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Update when I can, death tw, i think i'm funny but evidence points otherwise, nonbinary pidge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-03-22 08:23:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 41
Words: 37,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13760103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wowimnervos/pseuds/wowimnervos
Summary: Why is it so cold in here? Because we live with a ghost? Oh, right, makes sense.





	1. heating and cooling

Lance frowned to himself. Did Pidge turn down the heat again? Just because they got warm didn’t mean they could just turn it down without warning him. Sighing, Lance shoved his _warm_ blankets off and heaved himself out of his _comfy_ spinny chair and started walking into the _cold_ hallway. Lance knocked harshly on Pidge’s bedroom door.

  
“Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiidge!” Lance said. He could hear Pidge grumbling to themself as they shuffled to the door. They opened the door just a crack, glaring at him.

  
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?” they asked. When Lance stared at them for a second, they opened the door the rest of the way. Their arms were crossed, obviously peeved about having to get up and move around. _Wow_ , Lance wondered how _that_ felt.

  
“Did you change the temperature on the thermostat?” he asked. They made a face.

  
“No? Maybe Hunk did it.” Pidge continued to frown at him. Lance shook his head.

  
“No, he left about an hour ago for work. He has work today,” he said.

  
Pidge made a humming noise as a sound of agreement. It was obvious that they were about two seconds from snapping at him to leave them alone.

  
Lance sighed. “Fine… I’ll text Hunk and ask him about it. Maybe it’s broken.” Chewing on the inside of his mouth, Lance pulled out his phone.

  
“Okay, go away,” Pidge said. They then promptly slammed the door in Lance’s face. It was just loud and forceful enough to irritate and shock Lance.

  
“Rude!” Lance stuck his tongue out at the door. No response. Of course, Pidge was so _obviously_ too mature and dignified to have a retort. No, Lance was sure they just couldn’t think of a witty response. Yes, that was sure to be the reason. After quickly finishing the text to Hunk, Lance quickly walked away, not wanting Pidge to slam the door in his face again. They would do that. If he had continued to stand there, they would’ve opened the door and slammed it again.

  
Lance sighed to himself again. The stupid cold air had made Lance lose the focus he had worked so hard for. He just hoped he didn’t start pacing around the house again. Sometimes, he just started pacing, not focusing on anything, unable to force himself to do anything else. If Hunk were here, he could help him focus on doing something else, but he wasn’t here. Pidge wasn’t as good at helping him. They kind of just stared at him and started teasing him until Lance finally gave up and pulled up some random movie on Hulu. That didn’t always get his full attention, but it was start.

  
If he thought about it, Lance supposed that Pidge was very helpful in helping him stop pacing, but he preferred if Hunk helped him. Hunk was so much nicer about it. Interrupting him from his thoughts, Lance’s phone buzzed. It was a response from Hunk.

  
_I didn’t change the temperature, so that’s a bit weird… You might be right? It might be broken? But we should wait a while to see if it’s really broken to call somebody to come fix it._

  
Lance texted back a thumbs up and returned his phone to his pocket. Right. Now to focus on something else. Lance stared at the wall. This wasn’t helping. _Move_ , he told himself. His legs didn't move. In fact, none of him moved. He let out an irritated sigh. After staring at the wall for a few minutes more, Lance finally got himself up and moving. He returned to his room and decided to continue browsing through Tumblr. _Again_.

* * *

 

When Hunk returned from work, he insisted on checking out the thermostat. He messed with it for a while, before returning to Lance, looking defeated. Lance resisted the urge to smirk at him triumphantly.

  
“Yeah, um, so… I think it might be broken? It says it’s warmer than it actually is. Of course, you already knew that. We should probably call someone to come fix it tomorrow,” Hunk said. Lance nodded.

  
After the two were quite for a moment, Pidge piped up. “Do you think we should call the landlord? Coran?” they asked.

  
Hunk paused to think for a second. “I think so. Do you think we should call him right now, or wait until tomorrow?”

  
“We should probably call him now just in case it’s one of those problems that gets worse the longer you wait,” Pidge said.

  
Hunk nodded and pulled out his cell phone. Once pressing call on Coran’s contact, he put his the call on speaker phone.

  
It took a few seconds for Coran to pick up. “Hello, Hunk! How is everything?” Coran’s voice was cheerful as usual.

  
“Um, pretty good, I guess. But we have a problem going on in the house,” Hunk said. Lance looked as if he was about to explain, but Coran responded before Lance could say anything.

  
“Uh oh, what seems to be the problem?”

Hunk let Lance explain.

 

“The thermostat is acting up. It says it’s warmer than it actually is. Has it done that before?” Lance asked. Coran made a small, slightly startled noise.

“Hello, Lance! Is Pidge there? Yes? Alright! Anyways, no, it has not done that before. When did this start?”

The three roommates looked at each other.

“This morning at about 10:30. Lance accused me of changing the temperature,” Pidge said. Lance glared at them.

“Hey! I didn’t know! You were the only one in the house at the time that could’ve done it!” He threw his hands up in the air, dramatically, causing Pidge to roll their eyes.

“Alright, alright. Let’s settle down now. I’ll send someone over to check it out. In the meantime, please make sure to put enough blankets and jackets on to keep warm, alright?” Coran asked.

Hunk started to nod, before realizing he was on the phone.

“Yup!” Lance said. Hunk and Pidge voiced their agreement.

“Alright, I’ll talk to you guys later!” Coran said. The three said their goodbyes before Coran hung up. “Alright! Hopefully everything will be fine by the end of the day tomorrow!” Lance said.

Pidge rolled their eyes again.

“Dramatic piano music plays in the background, letting the audience know of the irony of his words,” they said.

Lance frowned at them, poking them in the nose. “Don’t start, you stinky.”

He jerked back his hand before Pidge could slap it away. They still slapped his hand anyway, and Lance stuck his jaw out at them in annoyance.

“Don’t touch me, peasant,” they said. Lance feigned offense.

“Wow, so rude… I worked so hard to make my way to the top, and this happens.” He slapped his hand against his chest. While Hunk chuckled at him, Pidge just rolled their eyes.

“You’re so dumb,” Pidge said.

Lance grinned, and Pidge reluctantly did the same. Looking at the two people near him, Hunk smiled. “I love you guys,” he said.

Lance’s smile grew and he poked Hunk’s elbows. “We love you too,” he said.

Pidge tried to hide their smile.

“Gross,” they said.

Hunk pulled both of them into a huge hug.

“Yes, we’re gross,” he said. Pidge let out a sigh of defeat.

“This is so cheesy,” they said.

“That’s the point,” Hunk said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i doubt many people get the reference the title of this chapter is to, so i guess i'll explain it for anxiety's sake? there's this dumb ass commercial that's on a lot on nbc in the morning where i live, and they have a catchy jingle. i don't wanna write it out though because of privacy and stuff


	2. missing life and the jealousy that comes w it

They were so happy. It made him miss his brother more. Missing his brother so much caused him to remember everything before his little brother moved out of the house. It had pained him to watch him leave, to watch him suffer, to watch him grieve the loss of him. He wanted so badly to be able to comfort him. He didn’t want to be gone. He didn’t want to watch others live in his house. Sure, he was happy for them, but watching them only made his heart ache worse. It used to be him and his brother in this house, laughing, sharing a cheesy moment topped with a cheesy hug. It used to be him teasing his brother, gaining a sarcastic remark. This scene, something that would usually bring him joy, only made his heart sink lower in his chest. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the three of them. It just reminded him of his loss. He hated moping, but this situation hurt his heart, and he just couldn’t stop. He couldn’t stop watching, couldn’t stop sinking lower and lower, couldn’t stop wishing for something better.

But they noticed him… Well, not really. They noticed the cold radiating off of him. They noticed the change in the atmosphere. Maybe this situation could allow him hope. Maybe he could allow himself to think that, maybe, something could change. For the first time in a long time, maybe someone would notice his presence. Maybe somebody would be able to communicate with him. He couldn’t wait for that.


	3. report

This was a bummer. Apparently, ‘ _nothing was wrong_ ’ with the thermostat. When the thermostat repairer Coran had called came by, he claimed to not even feel the cold. The man seemed to think that Hunk was truly crazy for feeling the cold. Lance felt that it might have helped Hunk’s care if he or Pidge were there when the man was over. Hunk agreed, but made sure that Lance and Pidge didn’t feel bad. They had work today, so of course they couldn’t have helped it. The two reluctantly agreed. Once Hunk had caught Lance and Pidge up on the day’s events, the three decided to call Coran again.

“Hello, again!” His voice was still cheerful.

“Hey, Coran,” Hunk said.

The three then spent the next few minutes explaining their situation to Coran. Coran listened patiently. Once they were finished speaking, Coran stay quiet for a moment, thinking.

“Hmm… That _is_ quite strange… Would you like me to send someone else to check out the thermostat? Or would you like me to come over there and check it out myself? I’m quite familiar with the house, so I may be able to figure it out.”  
Hunk looked at Lance and Pidge. Lance quickly shrugged while Pidge looked thoughtful.

“I think maybe you should send someone else out here. You might know the house pretty well, but we wouldn’t want to waste your time if nothing is really wrong or easily fixed. If nothing comes out of this person coming, then maybe you should come,” Pidge said. Hunk nodded at them. As for Lance, it seemed that he wasn’t paying attention. He just shrugged sheepishly. Hunk rolled his eyes at him, smiling a bit.

“Alright then, I’ll do that. Don’t forget to let me know how it goes,” Coran said.

“We won’t forget! Bye!” Lance said. Coran said his goodbye, then hung up.

The next hour was spent by food being made (mostly by Hunk) and by eating (by everyone). During this hour, the three continued to joke, mostly with Lance trying to come up with memes about what had happened during Hunk’s day. Most of them weren’t that funny, but Hunk and Pidge didn’t seem to really mind. Not wanting to ruin the good mood, the three did the dishes together, something that didn’t happen often. They usually took turns doing the dishes, afraid of starting an argument by being in such a close place for so long. While doing the dishes, they usually put headphones on and cranked up the music. This time, they played a playlist filled with music they all enjoyed out loud. The process of getting the dishes washed was slowed down by the amount of time they took to dance together.

The next day, the same thing happened. Only, this time, Pidge and Hunk were both home. The person sent to fix the thermostat claimed to not feel the cold. She tried to rationalize it, thinking that maybe she was just feeling a bit warm. However, she told them that she was regretful to say that she didn’t know how to fix the thermostat if she couldn’t understand what was wrong. At one point, she made a joke about a ghost maybe haunting the house, but they all quickly laughed it off. Part of Pidge believed that there really could be a ghost in the house, but they ignored the thought. When Lance returned home and was informed of the day’s events, he seemed a bit disappointed, but he quickly started naming off ideas on what to do next. Of course, they ended up calling Coran again, this time after dinner.

It didn’t take long for Coran to pick up. “Hello, you guys! What happened today? Has the thermostat been fixed?” he asked.

“No, unfortunately not,” Hunk said. He and Pidge then took turns in explaining what happened with the thermostat repairer that day. The conversation soon turned to setting up a time for Coran coming over and checking out the thermostat. It was decided that he would come over the next week; none of the three roommates would have a day off until then.


	4. a pillow fight and a meme song

“It’s so cold; I’m gonna commit muRDER.” Lance said. He had been whining for the past hour, and Pidge was starting to get pretty done with him. It was bad enough that they had to put up with the cold; they didn’t want to have to deal with Lance’s whining too.

“How did you manage to raise your voice right in the middle of that sentence? Wait, you know what? I don’t wanna know. Just shut up before I throw this pillow at you,” they said. Lance glared at them, jokingly pointing his fists at her.

“I do what I want. You better not throw a pillow at me.” He picked up the pillow behind him and brought it in front of him, as if it would shield him from being hit by the tiny nonbinary across from him. Pidge glared at him threateningly.

“If you can do what you want, then so can I.” They continued to pose with the pillow in hand threateningly.

“Ummm, no you can’t. I will tell Hunk on you,” he said. He raised his hands as if preparing to karate chop them. Pidge promptly threw the pillow at him. Surprised, Lance let out a high-pitched shriek.

“First of all, bitch!” He threw his own pillow at them, grabbed the pillow thrown at him, and threw it back. Grinning maliciously, Pidge threw both pillows back at Lance, then quickly hopped behind the arm of the couch.

“Oh, that’s it!” Lance said. He then took both pillows, raced to the opposite end of the couch, and smashed the pillows on Pidge’s face.

Pidge then began yelling. “HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME?” they asked.

“BECAUSE YOU STARTED IT.” Lance slapped Pidge with the pillows again.

“I’VE MADE MY MISTAKES,” Pidge said.

“OH YEAH THAT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS.” He wondered how long Pidge would continue singing the lyrics. He hoped not long; their voice was horrendous.

“RUDE.” Pidge yanked the pillows from Lance and started smacking him back.

Lance let out a loud shriek in response, sounding similar to a pterodactyl.

“What was that?” Pidge asked.

Lance paused before responding, unsure of what sound he made himself. “I actually have no clue.”

Pidge rolled their eyes. “No, of course not,” they said. Their comment caused Lance to grin a bit more.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’ve finally come to the meme side. Matt will be proud when he hears about this,” Lance said. He grinned, puffing his chest out in a jocular manner.

Before Pidge could respond, however, Hunk came in through the front door, finally home from work. He had a backpack slung over his shoulders and a computer bag hugged to his chest. Upon further glance, Lance could see that Hunk had gotten wet from the rain.

“Hey, Hunk, welcome back. We were totally not hitting each other with pillows,” Lance said. Smiling, Hunk rolled his eyes at him.

“Oh no, of course not. I would never think that of you two.” Hunk walked into the living room and set his stuff down.

Lance grinned. “Nope, not at all.”

“He’s been whining about the cold for at least an hour. Please help me,” Pidge said. Lance stuck his tongue out at them. _Stinky traitor_.

“Sorry, I have my hands full with needing to start dinner. Luckily for you, just two more days until Coran comes to check out the thermostat,” Hunk said. He started heading towards the kitchen and was quickly followed by both of his roomates.

“I can’t handle Lance’s whining for two more days.” If Pidge wasn’t careful, they’d be whining soon themself.

Hunk shook his head. “You’re just going to have to deal with it, Pidgey.”

Pidge pouted a bit, but otherwise didn’t give much of a response. Dinner was quickly started, and Lance and Pidge remained in the kitchen for the smell of the food. There wasn’t as much talking as the few nights before, but they all enjoyed each other’s company.

* * *

 

After dinner, Pidge still couldn’t stop thinking about the thought of there being a ghost in the house. Of course, they were pretty sure they believed in ghosts, but you only heard about ghosts. You never really actually had a ghost in your own home. You only ever spent hours on the Internet, hoping to find a story about someone seeing ghosts; a story that was actually believable. And not those stupid medium shows. Those were shitty and felt very silly. Pidge’s parents had never liked those shows, so it made a bit of sense that Pidge didn’t like them either. They weren’t sure if it was really possible, so they hadn’t brought it up at all, but the more Pidge thought about it, the more they felt like bringing it up. Maybe they would bring it up tomorrow or the day after that. Some time before Coran came over, just in case Lance or Hunk thought it was plausible. They doubted they would, but it was worth a shot.


	5. allura & keith & realization

Today was finally the day that Coran was coming over to check out the thermostat. Pidge had just finished pitching their idea about there possibly really being a ghost in the house. To Pidge’s relief, the idea was not immediately shot down. Hunk and Lance actually looked thoughtful about it. Well, Hunk did anyway. Pidge wasn’t entirely sure that Lance could actually look thoughtful about something, in the sense of actually considering an idea anyway.

“I think that, maybe, if we can’t figure out this thermostat situation, that that seriously considering it being a ghost might be a good idea. Then again, I’m not so sure I believe in ghosts? So I don’t know… But maybe I’m just biased,” Hunk said. Lance nodded intently.

“What he said.” Lance pointed at him, almost poking him.

“Are you saying that because you agree or because you have no idea what to say?” Pidge asked. Lance frowned.

“Okay, first of all, rude; second of all…. Umm… Both…” Lance looked a bit sheepish as he neared the end of his… sentence, causing Pidge to snicker at him.

“Right,” they said. Unsure on how to respond, Lance opened his mouth, then closed it. His silence only further amused Pidge.

Before the conversation could be given anymore thought, there was a knock on the door. After quickly glancing outside to make sure it was Coran, Hunk quickly walked to the door. The door opened to reveal Coran and his goddaughter, Allura.

“I hope you don’t mind that I brought Allura!” Coran said. Hunk shook his head.

“Not at all. I just hope Lance doesn’t bother her too much,” he said. The comment earned a small chuckle from Allura and an offended noise from Lance. He was so offended in fact, he hopped off the couch and came over to flick Hunk on the arm.

“Rude!” he said. Smiling, Hunk rolled his eyes at him.

“It may be rude, but Lance, you know I’m right.” Hunk stared at Lance until he glared back at him. It was obvious he wasn’t going to agree with him, even if he continued to stare at him.

“No,” he said.

“Yes,” Hunk said.

“We’re not starting this,” Pidge said.

“Please and thank you.” Allura looked a bit amused when she said it, but there was a ring of seriousness in her voice.

Not wanting things to start to get awkward, Hunk started moving and talking. “So, uh… Does it feel cold in here to you? Because, you know, the repairers didn’t seem to feel it.”

Everyone followed him. “It does… I think it’s very strange that two repairers didn’t think it was cold in here… Maybe they knew each other and planned this? I doubt it though… They couldn’t know the other would be sent, I don’t think.”

Allura shook her head. “I don’t think they could. It does seem a bit cold in here to me too.” Right on time, she shivered a bit.

“Well, I’m glad the three of us aren’t somehow telepathically crazy,” Pidge said. Hunk nodded in agreement.

“I am too,” Coran said. He smiled at them.

After a few minutes of rambling, Coran finally got to work and started checking out the thermostat. Hunk made tea for Allura, and everyone except Coran sat down in the living room. They chatted for a while until Coran was satisfied with checking out the house.

“I’m sorry to say that I don’t say anything wrong. I’m not so sure why it’s so cold in here,” Coran said. Hunk and Lance glanced at Pidge, who shrugged. Hunk and Lance looked at each other, and Lance nodded.

“Yeah, so, this is going to sound weird, but… uh… Do you think it’s possible that there’s a ghost in here?” Hunk asked. Coran immediately froze up. Hunk raised an eyebrow.

“Um, yes… I do. This is going to disturb you, and you may want to move out because of this, but… A man died here. Someone came in here and shot him. He was a soldier, and he had to make tough decisions while fighting. Someone that was negatively affected by one of those decisions found him, came in here one night, and… and he shot him… His name was Shiro.” There were tears in Coran’s eyes, and Hunk felt a bit bad for asking.

“Oh Jesus, I’m sorry Coran… Did you know him well?” Lance asked. Coran quickly wiped his eyes.

“Yes… He and Allura were dating… They were talking about getting married.” Coran said. The roommates glanced at Allura; she looked very uncomfortable.

“I’m so sorry Allura,” Lance said. She shook her head.

“It’s… It’s fine. I miss him a lot… But I’m getting through it,” she said.

Everyone turned silent for a moment. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge were shocked into silence, while Allura and Coran took a moment to remember Shiro. It almost felt like a moment of silence to remember 9/11. People finding out about how others were victims, and others remembering what happened. The air felt heavy, and Lance felt as if he was going to choke. He was unsure if it was just from the atmosphere or as if he thought he might cry. Losing someone hurt. Coran shook his head and cleared his throat.

“This has gotten a bit awkward, sorry about this. Anyways, yes, I do think that it’s possible there’s a ghost here. If there is one, I suppose it’s Shiro…” Coran said. Suddenly, Allura jerked her head up.

“I have an idea of what we can do! What if everyone went into different rooms of the house to see if it felt colder or warmer in different rooms!” She looked so excited to have an idea, Hunk could feel his heart melt a bit. She must be so happy to have a chance to see Shiro again.

“Wait, Allura… Shouldn’t Keith know? Just in case? I wouldn’t want to cause unnecessary pain if Shiro isn’t really here, though…” Coran said. Allura thought for a second.

“I think so. He’d be upset if he found out that we didn’t tell him sooner,” Allura said. The roommates looked puzzled.

“What? Who’s Keith?” Lance asked. Allura turned to him.

“He’s Shiro’s younger brother. It’s a bit… hard to get him to warm up to you, but once he does, he’s quite kind,” she said. Lance nodded.

“I’ll go call him right now,” Coran said. He started to head out the door.


	6. stopping in the middle of a job to go see a dead person

Keith almost dropped his phone. Shiro? A ghost? His amazing older brother? If he was here, then it probably meant that he had regrets… Or he had chosen to stay. Either way, Keith had to go to him.

Keith needed to know if he was really there or not. He needed to know right. Now. He couldn’t wait to go find him. Literally.

Wait. He was in the middle of helping a poor old lady possibly find her dead husband. Did he really need to leave right now? Could it wait? No, this could not wait. He need to leave immediately.

There was no way he was going to miss his chance to see Shiro.

“I’m coming. I’ll be there as soon as possible,” Keith said. Coran acknowledged that Keith heard him and hung up.

Now to inform the poor old lady.

“Mrs. Gregory, I’m sorry, but I have to leave,” Keith said. The old lady looked up at him, alarmed.

“Did something happen? What’s wrong, dear?” she asked. Her face was scrunched up with concern.

“I think… I think I might be able to find my brother. He’s dead… I have to go,” Keith said. Mrs. Gregory gave him an understanding smile.

“Alright, dear. Go find him. I pray you find him,” she said. Keith nodded gratefully at her and took off.

Keith was pretty sure he had never run this fast before. Except for when Shiro said that his favorite game was about to go off sale. Not even his lack of athletic ability would stop him from getting

that game. Now it wouldn’t stop him from getting to Shiro. Luckily, Keith’s ‘ghost finding’ equipment was easily packed into his car. Not even his anxious scrambling and slamming slowed him down

too much. It only took about fifteen minutes for Keith to get on the road and start heading to his old home.

* * *

 

Keith realized he wasn’t just knocking on the door, he was banging on the door. Very loudly. Enough to irritate the shit out of someone. The door slammed open. A very irritated looking male opened the door.

“Yo, calm your tits, I was gonna open the door,” he said. Keith cut his eyes at him.

“No,” he said. Just… no. The man in front of him, about his age actually, pursed his lips.

“Yes.” Was he seriously going to argue with Keith on this one? He better not. Keith cracked his knuckles.

“No.” That didn’t mean Keith wouldn’t argue back.

“Lance, just let him in,” another voice said. It was a male voice, and it sounded like he had been dealing with this Lance for quite a long time.

“Fine. Get your ass in here Keith.”

Lance moved to let Keith in. He did so, but did his best to keep himself squished as far away from him as he could. Lance must have noticed this because he rolled his eyes.

* * *

 

A mullet. A fucking mullet. He had a mullet. Why a mullet? Out of all the hairstyles he could have chosen, why would he choose to have a mullet? Sure, it fit him, and he looked really cute, but still. That’s no excuse for a fucking mullet. That’s it. Keith was getting teased. He was going to get teased for his annoyingly cute mullet and his nerdy Ghostbuster looking aesthetic. Lance bet he believed in aliens, that the moon landing was faked, and all those other weird conspiracies. Not that Lance didn’t believe in aliens; it was just funny because Keith looked like the type to believe in them. What a fucking nerd. Oh boy, Keith and Pidge were going to get along well. So well that Keith might even steal Pidge away from him. Then they would have a problem. No one was going to take Lance’s friends. He had his eyes on this dude. Not in a gay/bi kind of way. In a ‘I’m suspicious of you’ kind of way. Well, kind of in a gay/bi kind of way, as long Keith didn’t keep this stubborn, annoying shit up.

Lance was eyeing him. Keith wasn’t sure if Lance was doing it in a gay way or an angry way. Either way, he was eyeing him.

“Stop that,” he snapped. Lance glared, most likely startled at being caught staring, but stopped looking at him. Keith felt himself calm down a little.

“Keith?” a familiar voice asked. Keith whipped his head around. Allura. He hadn’t seen her in forever. She ran forward to give him a hug, and he reluctantly returned the hug. Coran joined the hug soon after.

“Okay, too much, too much,” Keith said. There was a small chuckle from Allura, and the two pulled away.

“I’m happy you’re okay,” Allura said. Keith stood awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. Seeing his reaction, Allura smiled.

“Alright, I get it. Enough cheesiness. Let’s get you caught up,” she said.

Soon, Keith was caught up and knew everyone’s names. It felt a bit strange to meet the strangers living in the house he loved so much. It was like having old friends meet your new ones. Or watching your friends who didn’t know each other converse. He didn’t know if he liked or disliked this. The feeling of nostalgia only fueled his confusion.

“Do you need a moment to look around?” Allura asked. She must’ve been watching him and his facial expressions. Keith shrugged.

“No, I’m fine. Let’s just… Can I just do my thing?” he asked. Lance raised an eyebrow.

“WAIT. You see ghosts? Holy shit,” Lance said. Keith rolled his eyes.

“LANCE,” Pidge said.

“WHAT,” he asked. Pidge face palmed.

“No. Just. Shut up,” they said.

Keith tried to hide a grin, but Lance saw it anyways.

“First of all, you fuckng cocky ass bitch--,” he started. Pidge grabbed his arm.

“Stop. Why are you like this?” they asked. Lance frowned, but calmed down a bit.

“Anyways… Keith, would you like my help getting everything out of the car?” Allura asked. Keith nodded.

“Hold up. You have gear?” Lance asked. Keith nodded slowly, obviously not amused.

“Cool! I wanna see!” Pidge said. Keith gave them a small smile.

“You can come look at it, if you want,” he said. Pidge’s smile grew, and they nodded excitedly.

“Of course!” they said. Lance groaned, but was ignored.

The three ran outside to Keith’s car, and Lance turned to Hunk.

“Why is this happening?” he asked.

“Well you see, when it’s suddenly cold, and your thermostat says it’s not--” Hunk started. Lance interrupted before he could say anymore.

“No. This is not--no,” he said. Hunk smiled.


	7. progress

They were going to see him soon. Soon, they’d know he was here. Keith would be so happy. Shiro missed him. It was a relief to Shiro just seeing Keith. It was a relief seeing him happy. And… Allura was here. The love of his life. Well, Shiro was dead, so technically, the love of his death or something, but… Allura. He loved her so much, and she was here. She was still sad about him, but she found a way to be happy and to cope. Her happiness mattered most to him. Well, hers and Keith’s. Shiro didn’t want to be another reason that Keith had trust issues. He wanted Keith to be able to open up when he needed to. He hoped that these new people became people that Keith could lean on. He hoped that he could open up to them. For now, Shiro would have to just wait and see. There was nothing he could do about this right now.


	8. lance's cereal

“No, wait a minute, you guys want him to stay here during this?! This is worse than I thought! Keith isn’t just going to steal Pidge! He’s going to steal Hunk too!” Lance said. Sighing, Pidge rolled their eyes.

“Nobody’s stealing anybody, Lance. We just think it’d be easier on Keith and us if he stayed here. He doesn’t even have to sleep in your room. You can sleep in your room by yourself if you want. It’s just easier for him to stay here for a while,” they said. Lance frowned, caving.

“Fine… But he better not eat my cereal!” he said. This time, Hunk rolled his eyes.

“He won’t. And if he does… I can just buy you more,” he said.

“Fiiiine,” Lance said.

* * *

 

Hunk let Keith know that he could stay here. He looked a bit relieved.

“Thanks,” he said. Lance stared at him.

“But if you eat my cereal, you’re dead. Totally dead,” he said.

“I’m not going to eat your cereal.” Keith stared back at him.

“That’s what I said!” Hunk exclaimed.

“Hey, at least you put a little trust in me,” Keith said. Lance stuck his tongue out at him.

* * *

 

Lance was going to go crazy. Not only did Keith have a mullet, but he also liked emo music. Like, really emo music. Why? Just why? As if staying in their house wasn’t enough, Lance had to hear Keith’s emo music? This wasn’t eighth grade. Fine. If Keith wanted to be emo, Lance was just going to have to meme to make it all more bearable. Lance snuck up behind Keith, who was currently making cereal.

“THIS BITCH EMO, YEET!” Lance said. Poor Keith was so startled, the cereal jerked up, and cereal went everywhere.

“JESUS FUCK!” Keith yelled. He whipped his head around. Wait… was that…?

“IS THAT MY CEREAL?” Lance's voice came out in a shrill shriek.

“OW, I HAVE EARS,” Keith said. Lance glared, looking so angry that it was almost comical.

“WOW REALLY? WITH HOW LOUD YOUR SCREAMO MUSIC IS, I WOULDN’T HAVE GUESSED THAT,” Lance said. Keith stared at him, eyes wide.

“DON’T TALK SHIT ON MY MUSIC,” he said.

“I WASN’T--wait… Is that a fucking Brandon Calvillo reference?” Lance asked. Keith gave him a shit eating grin.

“Yes,” he said. Lance slammed his hand over his heart.

“He truly can be saved,” he said. Keith frowned.

“I just gave you a peace offering don’t start with me.” He set the cereal box down on the counter threateningly.

“Oh, I’m starting it. You emo ghost-loving conspiracy-loving fuck.” Lance picked up the cereal box and slammed it back down. This action caused Keith to roll his eyes.

“Really? You cringey, meme-y, anime waifu body pillow fucking, weeb-y, lanky loudmouth,” Keith said. Lance gasped dramatically.

“You take that back!” Trying to seem even more irritated and intimidating, Lance crossed his arms. It didn’t really help. Keith shook his head.

“Never,” he said. Lance screeched. Like a pterodactyl. Again.

“How dare you?” he asked. Keith rolled his eyes.

“You know that the cereal has been in the floor long enough that you can’t eat it now, right?” Keith asked. Lance pursed his lips further.

“Yes, I know that. Now you have to pay for a new box,” he said.

“You’re the one that made me spill it!” Keith said.

“You were going to eat it before you spilled it!”

“You insulted me!”

“Your face insulted me!” Lance said. Keith threw his hands up angrily.

“Thanks for lowering my self esteem!” he said.

“You’re welcome! Now you’re down to my level of self esteem!” he said. Keith stared at him.

“You should get that checked out,” he said.

“Maybe so.” Lance did his best to mimic the meme all over Tumblr, but he wasn’t entirely sure he did the best job of it. Keith rolled his eyes at him.

“You guys are loud and you woke me up and now you’re going to pay,” Pidge said. Both boys whipped their heads around. Well, shit. When Pidge said someone was going to pay, they usually meant it. It happened when they expected it the least.

“Don’t hurt me, Pidgeeeeey,” Lance said. Pidge glared at him.

“I will. You better watch it,” they said. Lance frowned, sticking his bottom lip out to seem more pathetic.

“That doesn’t work on me. Only Coran.” They crossed their arms.

“You know what? I’m going to tell Lotor on you, and he’ll protect me,” Lance said. Pidge rolled their eyes.

“Yeah, like there’s anything he can do against me,” they said. Lance paused.

“You know what? You’re probably right,” he said.

“Not probably. Really,” they said.

In the time that the two had been talking, Keith had somehow slipped into the other room. If he was trying to escape Lance’s insults or Pidge’s reign of terror, that wasn’t going to work.

“KEITH,” Lance yelled. He started running through the house looking for him. It didn’t take long to find him. He was only a few rooms away. The game room. It was there Hunk, Lance, and Pidge put their computers, video games, board games, etc.

“What?” he asked. His voice was back to being snappy. No more memes.

“You are so not off the hook for spilling my cereal!” Lance said.

“Uh, I think you mean for waking me up. Of course, you helped so, you’re both at fault,” Pidge said. While Lance pouted angrily at Pidge, Keith looked back and forth at the two.

“I’m not paying for cereal or loss of sleep,” Keith said. He turned back to the computer room, earning a shocked scoff from Lance.

“Um, yes, you are,” Lance said. Keith ignored him.

Interrupting the conversation, a sleepy Hunk entered the room, yawning.

“What are you guys doing? I’m starting to feel bad for Keith…” he said.

“Thank you!” Keith said. Eyebrows pinching together, Lance held up a finger, motioning for Hunk to pause right there.

“Um, no. Keith was going to eat my cereal, and he woke Pidge up,” Lance said.

“Technically, you helped,” Pidge said.

“Um, technically, no. Keith is really infuriating, so it’s not my fault I was so loud,” Lance said. Pidge frowned at him, giving him an ‘are you stupid?’ look.

“Keith really isn’t that irritating. I’m not sure what you’re problem is,” Pidge said.

“Do I detect salt? If so, I’m throwing you in the sink. You would fit,” Lance said. Pidge narrowed their eyebrows at him.

“I’m five feet. I’m not that small,” they said. Keith inhaled.

“Yeah, sorry buddy, I somehow agree with Lance. You’re kind of that small,” he said.

“Rude! I was on your side and everything!” Pidge crossed their arms. Keith shrugged.

“Sorry,” he said. Pidge shook their head at him, looking disappointed.

“Hurtful.” They took a step away from him, making Keith roll his eyes.

“Well… I’m going to go, uh… Make myself breakfast,” Hunk said. As he was talking, he began inching toward the door.


	9. finally seeing and staying quiet

When Lance returned home from work, Keith was already there. Although, he wasn’t sure if Keith had left the house at all that day. Lance wasn’t even if he had a job outside of this ‘ghost busting’ thing. If Keith had another job, Lance wondered what it was. Maybe it was a YouTube channel dedicated to conspiracies theories. He seemed like the type. However, to have those two jobs, Keith probably still wouldn’t make enough to get by. Well, maybe if his channel had enough viewers, but Lance wasn’t sure how many people just sat and watched conspiracy theory videos. Those kinds of videos seemed kind of fake, with their clickbait-y titles and all. Lance tended to try to stay away from those kinds of videos. Not only did they look really fake, but they were those kinds of videos that sucked you into watching strange YouTube videos that made you wonder how the hell you got to them. Once Lance entered the living room, Keith looked at him.

“Oh,” Keith said. Lance raised an eyebrow at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked. Keith shrugged.

“Nothing, I guess.” He looked back at his phone, causing Lance to frown.

“You guess? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing? I don’t know?” Keith’s voice came out like a question, thoroughly confusing Lance.

“You know what? Nevermind,” Lance said. He walked out of the room, leaving Keith looking oddly annoyed with himself.

* * *

 

Keith was alone in the house again. It felt how it felt when Shiro died. Keith felt empty. However… If Shiro was possibly a ghost right now, and possibly here, then Keith could try talking to him. It took a bit of time to coax the brain to let it see a ghost, but at the very least, Shiro would hear Keith. That was enough for Keith for now. Keith took a deep breath.

“Shiro? Are you there? I don’t know if you can hear me, but… I miss you… So does Allura… And Coran. I honestly don’t even know if you’re here right now… I feel kind of stupid for doing this. I mean, I know ghosts are real… It’s just weird, y’know? For some reason, I thought you’d move on. You’re so strong, that I don’t know… I thought you’d just get into heaven immediately. I guess that’s kind of dumb. I don’t know. This is dumb. I’ll see you soon, I guess,” Keith said.

With that, he squashed a pillow to his face, embarrassed at the display of his weakness. Deep down, he knew this was nothing to be ashamed of, but a part of him just couldn’t help it. What if Shiro was laughing at him? No, he wouldn’t do that.

“Wow, you’re really red, Keith.”

Startled, Keith jumped. When he jerked his head up, he saw Shiro standing in front of him. He looked exactly he had when he was alive, but he had a shimmery outline. He even had his prosthetic arm. As Keith jumped a little, Shiro let out a small chuckle.

“You can see me now, huh, Keith?” he asked. Keith nodded slowly. Suddenly seeing your dead brother as a ghost is a bit nerve wracking, as it turns out.

“Yeah… Wow, um… I don’t know what to say,” Keith said. He scratched his arm nervously. Shiro smiled.

“How about you tell me how you’ve been? It’s been forever,” Shiro said. He reached out to ruffle Keith’s hair, but his hand went right through him. Keith shivered.

“My brain has never felt so cold,” Keith said. Shiro grinned.

“Sorry, I was not expecting that to happen,” he said. Keith gave him a small smile.

“Yeah, I didn’t really think you could touch anything yet. It’ll be a while until that happens, I’m pretty sure. Unless you’re some kind of super ghost that advances their powers pretty quickly,” Keith told him. Shiro raised an eyebrow.

“What? Keith have you been studying ghosts?” he asked. Keith nodded.

“Yeah, ever since you died. I started learning about seeing ghosts. I’ve done a pretty good job, though… It’s a bit difficult because some people think I’m crazy, but it’s all worth it. I get to see you now. Allura will be so happy when she comes back over,” Keith said. Smiling sadly, Shiro shook his head.

“I don’t know Keith… I really want Allura to move on and be happy. I don’t want to hold her back,” he said. Jaw dropping, Keith jerked his head back and forth.

“No no no no, you cannot be serious. Allura misses you. Would you really want to lead her on? Make her think you were here, but hide the fact that you’re really here from her? That could just hurt her worse, especially if she were to find out,” Keith said. Shiro sighed.

“You might be right, but… I don’t know….” he said. Keith frowned sympathetically.

“Please let her see you,” he begged.

“I’ll think about it,” he said. Keith sighed, but reluctantly agreed.

* * *

 

Keith decided not to tell anyone that he had seen Shiro. Even if he thought that he could get everyone to promise not to tell Coran or Allura, he still didn’t feel comfortable telling them. They would need to be able to see Shiro themselves. Shiro would have to tell them what to do. He would have to try to rationalize his thoughts to them. Lance seemed to be the type to convince Shiro to let Allura know he was here. He was annoyingly persuasive like that; Keith didn’t know how he did it. Lance could probably convince God to take Satan back into Heaven if he really wanted to. Dealing with Shiro’s opinion on the matter made Keith wonder how people put up with his stubbornness. Well, at least Lance was at least just as bad as he was. Not that Keith thought it was a bad thing… It just made Keith feel like a better person. Kind of.

Anyways, it felt weird now that Keith could see Shiro. He couldn’t acknowledge him when anyone was home because he didn’t want anyone to know he could see them. Keith was sure that it would be a great relief when at least one other person in the house could see Shiro. Just because Keith was good at keeping secrets didn’t mean that he always liked doing it. Especially big secrets. Keith hated big secrets. Lance interrupted his thoughts before Keith spiraled any further.

“Keith moooove,” he said. Keith let out a startled huff, but obliged to Lance’s request. Well, his demand, really. He really didn’t see why he had to be the one to move, but he really didn’t feel like arguing with him.

When Keith remained quiet, Lance frowned at him. Keith continued to remain silent. Lance’s frown grew. He poked him. Again, no response. Lance poked him again. Nope. Again. No. Again.

“Would you stop that?” Keith asked. Lance gave him a small, triumphant smile. He wouldn’t allow Keith to be depressed and anxious, just irritated.

“Maybe,” Lance said. Keith sighed.

“You’re the most immature person I’ve ever met,” he said. Lance grinned.

“Thank you,” he said. Keith rolled his eyes.

“That wasn’t a compliment.” He crossed his arms. Lance mock pouted.

“Aw, Keefy, why would you say this to me?” He made grabby hands at Keith. Keith stared at him.

“Keefy? Um, nope, not doing that,” he said. Lance nodded vigorously.

“Yes, we’re totally doing that,” he said.

“Aw, come on, Keefy.”

Lance jumped, looking up. “What the--Wow, wait! Are you Shiro?!”

The ghost smiled at him and nodded. “Yes, I’m Shiro. You’re Lance, right?” he asked. Lance nodded.

“Yup! Oh, that’s so cool! You have a robot arm! You’re like Deandra from MPGIS!” Lance said. Shiro raised an eyebrow at him.

“MP--what now?” he asked. Lance grinned.

“Don’t worry about it; it’s a YouTube series,” he said. He stood up and started inspecting Shiro.

“Lance, you look really weird, stop,” Keith said. Lance paused.

“Oh, right, sorry,” he said. Shiro chuckled.

“It’s fine. People have done worse,” he said. Lance opened his mouth, but then closed. He wasn’t sure how dark that joke really was, and he was a bit unsure if he really wanted to know. Thankfully, the confusion on Lance’s face seemed to only further amused the ghost.

“Oh, um, well, Okay,” Lance said. Rolling his eyes, Keith snorted at his awkwardness. Finally, Keith wasn’t the awkward one.

“Wow, what a thoughtful response, Lance,” Keith said. Lance glared at him.

“Piss off,” he said. Keith rolled his eyes again.

“Okay, sure, buddy,” he said. Lance nodded at him seriously. For the most part, Keith ignored Lance. He just went back to staring at his phone. Realizing he wasn’t going to get a response from Keith, Lance turned back to Shiro. Hundreds of questions about being a ghost were already filling his mind. It took much self control for Lance to not ask too many of them at a time.


	10. moving right along

Everything was moving a bit more quickly than Shiro had hoped and expected. Lance being able to see Shiro already put a wrench in his plans. He was hoping to prepare himself before Allura knew he was there. Not being prepared for it scared Shiro a bit. Of course, he knew he would be able to handle it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want time to prepare. Part of him wanted to ask Lance to refrain from telling Allura he could see him, but another part of him was afraid of how Lance would respond. What if Lance accused him of not loving Allura? Of course he loved Allura, and there was nothing anybody could say to change that, but he didn’t want Allura stop believing it for a second. Yes, a part of him remained selfish and didn’t want Allura to move on so soon. He felt bad about it, but he also knew that he needed to give himself time. He was sure that he could grow to be completely okay with Allura moving on. For now, he needed to be content with what little part of him that was okay with it. He just needed time.


	11. wE HAD A BONDING MOMENT I CRADLED YOU IN MY ArMS

Something confused Lance. No, not why Allura only found his flirting irritating, yet amusing. Keith didn’t seem surprised by Shiro. Had he already seen him? If he did, why hadn’t he said anything? Maybe he knew something Lance didn’t? He wouldn’t be surprising; Shiro and Keith seemed pretty close. However, it was still irritating that Keith knew something that Lance didn’t. Lance really wanted to ask Keith about it, but he also really didn’t want to get snapped at. After a few minutes more of debating with himself, Lance finally managed to convince himself to confront Keith about it. If he just tried his best not to let himself get too aggressive, he was sure that it would be harder for Keith to get upset with him. Probably.

“Keith? Can I talk to you for a sec?” Lance asked. A bit startled, Keith jumped. Whether he was startled from the softness in his tone or because he didn’t expect Lance to be standing there, Lance wasn’t sure. Either way, Keith stood up.

“Uh, yeah, sure… What’s up?” he asked. Lance could tell he was a bit nervous. Pushing the thought aside, Lance motioned for Keith to follow him. Keith did. Lance didn’t open his mouth again until they reached his room.

“So, I don’t know, maybe I’m just being dumb, but when I saw Shiro, you didn’t really seem that surprised. I mean… Was that just me? Or have you seen Shiro before earlier?” Lance asked. Keith hesitated.

“Yeah, I saw him for the first time earlier today. I just… it’s complicated, okay?” he asked. So Lance was right… Maybe it was because of how complicated Keith looked, but Lance couldn’t get mad at Keith. He wasn’t even irritated. Some part of him just understood how he felt.

“Yeah, okay. That’s okay,” Lance said. He smiled at Keith. Keith smiled back.

“Thank you,” he said. The amount of relief on Keith’s face was almost alarming.

* * *

 

Perhaps being nice to Keith had its perks. Lance felt a bit closer to Keith, and he didn’t feel so constantly irritated with him. Keith must have felt the same way because he seemed a bit calmer around Lance. He seemed to appreciate Lance being patient with him. Thanks to this, the house seemed a little less loud. Lance felt like he could relax a bit more. Keith didn’t feel like such a stranger. He was sure that Hunk and Pidge noticed, but neither said anything about it. Perhaps they were afraid that if they said anything, the peace would disappear, and Keith and Lance would return to yelling every time they saw or even heard each other. Part of Lance was relieved they didn’t say anything; he wasn’t sure if he was ready for another serious moment again so soon. Especially if it was about the one that he just had.

Maybe Hunk and Pidge read his mind because it wasn’t long before Lance was cornered and asked about the sudden peace in the house. They made sure he knew that it was very much appreciated, but they wanted to know why.

“Did you two suddenly realize you like each other and start dating?” Hunk asked. Lance’s mouth fell open.

“What?! No!” he said. The two narrowed their eyes at him.

“Riiiiiiiight,” Pidge said. Lance frowned at the two of them.

“Hey, why am I the only one being interrogated? Why aren’t you guys questioning Keith too?” he asked. Hunk and Pidge looked at each other.

“He’s trying to change the subject,” Pidge said. Hunk nodded grimly.

“He is. What should we do about this?” he asked. Pidge pretended to think to themself for a moment.

“I’d say a full on investigation is in order,” they said. Sighing, Lance face palmed.

“Stop. Just, no. Nothing is going on. Keith and I just talked about something that’s going on. It’s no biggie,” he said. He stared them down. Pidge and Hunk reluctantly let Lance off the hook.

“Okay, but we’re watching you,” Pidge said. Lance rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, okay,” he said. His voice dripped with sarcasm. The sarcasm was ignored, and Lance was not given a response.


	12. emo songs and anxiety to go w it / finally seeing but not keeping quiet this time

“Keith, what the cheese? You got that song stuck in my head,” Lance said. Keith grinned a small bit.

“Which one?” he asked. Lance paused, thinking.

“The one that… Um… The one that keeps repeating, ‘It gets better’,” he said. Keith smiled.

“Yeah, you just told me the name of it. How did you not remember the name?” he asked. Lance pouted.

“Rude! I just forgot, okay?” Lance said. Keith snorted at him.

“Yes because that’s completely understandable,” he said. His voice was dripping with sarcasm. At this, Lance’s face contorted in comic anger.

“Yes, it is. I’ve only heard the song two or three times! Plus, I don’t know, it could be one of those songs that have those weird song titles. You know, the ones that have little to do with the actual song?” Lance asked. Keith snorted, almost sneering at Lance.

“Alright, alright,” he said. Satisfied that Keith almost seemed to be agreeing with him, Lance refrained from arguing any further.

* * *

 

Keith had been watching Lance. It was strange. At first, he was glaring at his laptop, his hands a flurry. His hands were moving so quickly, his eyes darted many a time across the page. It was a bit concerning to watch. In time, Lance’s face softened. His hands slowed. His eyes crinkled in pride. Something had happened, but Keith wasn’t sure what. Soon, he was back to grinning at everything around him. Well, except for Keith. He wasn’t grinning at Keith. Of course.

Anyways, Lance looked happy. He went from 100 to 0 pretty quickly, and Keith had no clue what it was about. It didn’t take long for Keith to find out. Lance caught Keith staring at him, looking confused. He froze a bit.

“I guess I was making faces again? Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s not that important,” he said. Keith continued to stare at him. After a moment, Lance sighed.

“I just kind of vented? Anyways, it made me feel better.” The tone in Lance’s voice showed that he was obviously embarrassed. Keith couldn’t really see why. Well, he could, but he also couldn’t. Sure, it was hard showing weakness, but there was nothing wrong with being anxious. Well, okay, so it affected your mental state, but there was nothing wrong with showing it. God, now Keith’s brain felt all jumbled. Keith shrugged.

“Cool. That’s always helpful,” he said. Wow, lame. That sounded lame. Oh well. Lance’s mouth hung open a bit.

“You trying to catch flies?” Keith asked. Lance immediately shut his mouth and glared.

“No. Are you? I really couldn’t tell because of all the vinegar added to the honey. There’s not enough honey,” Lance said. Keith paused.

“The order of those words confuse me,” Keith said. Wait. Now he got it. Yeah, because you attract flies with honey. Wow, real smart Lance. Did Lance think that Keith wanted to be friends then? Maybe not, but if he did… He might be a bit right, but Keith wasn’t so sure how long it would take to ignore how irritating Lance could be. But the realization of what Lance meant must’ve shown on Keith’s face because Lance smirked.

“Yeah, obviously. Because, you know, you’re so slow,” he said. Groaning, Keith rolled his eyes.

“Yes, I’m the slow one,” he said. The sarcasm worked. Lance glared at him, obviously offended.

“Yes, you are, Keith!” Lance exclaimed. After stopping the sentence short, Lance looked down at his laptop, seeming to be finding the right words to insult Keith properly. Keith snorted.

“Wow, I feel so insulted, Lance. You just roasted me. I’m like beef, so roasted,” Keith said. Lance’s lips tightened.

“Aw, piss off,” he said.

“Gladly,” Keith retorted. Lance looked as if he had been expecting a different response, staring at him a bit. When Keith didn’t try to take back what he said, Lance returned to his laptop with a huff. God, it was like he enjoyed arguing.

* * *

 

Secretly, Lance felt a bit proud of himself for being able to see Shiro before Hunk and Pidge. Hunk and Pidge were the smartest people he knew, so it felt strange that he could see Shiro before them. It made him feel like there was something special about him. He wasn’t sure if this was something he necessarily should feel proud of himself for, but he felt proud all the same. So yeah, maybe it was a bit disappointing when Hunk and Pidge saw Shiro for the first time at the same moment. However, he was happy because he didn’t feel like he had to ignore Shiro anymore when the two were within earshot. It happened when Allura was over, drinking tea with everyone. It was a bit startling. Pidge jumped and Hunk shrieked. Hearing Hunk’s shriek, Allura herself jumped.

“What’s wrong?” she asked urgently. Hunk and Pidge stared at Shiro.

“Shiro…?” Pidge asked. Allura’s hands flew to her mouth, shaking a bit.

“You can see him?” she asked. Pidge and Hunk nodded slowly. Meanwhile, Shiro was wincing a bit, startled at the sudden reaction.

“Hi,” he said, waving awkwardly. He seemed a bit uncomfortable under the startled stares of Hunk and Pidge. Obviously, that was understandable.

“Yeah, um, hi,” Hunk said, sounding distracted.

“Okay, stop staring at him,” Keith snapped. The two immediately stopped staring.

“Sorry,” Hunk said. Shiro smiled, chuckling a bit.

“That’s alright,” he said. Allura frowned.

“I kind of feel bad that I can’t see Shiro… I suppose it’s worse if I talk like he’s not in the room. So, um, how are you Shiro?” Allura asked. Shiro smiled sadly at her.

“I’m okay, how are you?” he asked. Keith repeated his words to Allura.

“I’m okay, thank you,” she said. Wow, this was awkward.

Unfortunately for Lance, he didn’t do well in emotional situations. He was beginning to tense up, and soon, he could no longer keep track of the conversation. Everything said went in one ear and out the other. He didn’t know what to say, and the fact that he couldn’t even listen to what was going on made it worse. Keith seemed to notice because he kept glancing at him. He didn’t say anything, but a small part of his face gave away that he was worried about him. The fact that Keith was worrying about him on top of his own problems made Lance feel a bit guilty. Keith was going through something difficult and Lance was sitting there anxiously? What kind of friend--er, person, yeah person, would do that? Wait, were the two friends? They had been getting closer recently, but Lance couldn’t tell if they were friends or not. He was pretty sure they bickered too much to be considered friends. However, there was no way Lance was going to ask Keith about it. Keith would probably tease him about it. Lance most definitely did not want Keith to have something else to tease Lance about.

Still, Lance couldn’t stop panicking. He was just sitting and staring, not paying attention to anything. But at some point, when Lance wasn’t paying attention, Keith had gotten Hunk’s attention. Keith got Hunk to pull Lance out of the room so they could talk.

“Hey, Lance, would you mind coming into the kitchen with me? I need your advice on cooking something. I wanna know if you think it’d be good or not,” he said. He looked a bit uncomfortable, and Lance could tell that interrupting everything made him anxious. Lance smiled gratefully and nodded. The two walked into the kitchen together.

Hunk kept his voice quiet, not wanting anyone to hear the conversation.

“You okay, buddy?” he asked. Lance shrugged.

“Not really, I guess. This is all… a bit much,” he said. Hunk raised an eyebrow, pulling a big cooking bowl out of the cabinet.

“A bit much how? Is it just making you think? Or does it remind you of something? Or…?” As he talked, Hunk began preparing ingredients and cooking ware. So he really was going to make some food… Lance shrugged again.

“I guess it’s just making me think,” he said. His words felt like he had to tug them out. Like they were on a rope. He had to tug the rope out, forcing his words to form. It was like a tug of war with his fear of opening up. He knew he needed to talk, but a part of him wouldn’t let him. He wasn’t sure that he was able to win this tug of war. At least, not when so many people were in the house. Thankfully, Hunk knew what he was thinking. He knew that Lance really needed him to push him to talk.

“Think about what?” he asked. Lance thought for a second.

“I’m not really sure. My thoughts were kind of… blurring, I guess. Just serious stuff makes me nervous. I don’t know how to handle all this,” he said. Hunk frowned sympathetically.

“I’ve got you, buddy. This is scary to me too. I’ve never met a ghost before, and neither have you. It’s only natural for you to be nervous,” he said. Lance took a moment to soak in Hunk’s words. He forced himself to truly believe him. If Hunk could be calm, then so could he. Lance took a deep breath.

“Okay, I’ve got this. I think. No, yes, I’ve got this,” he said. Hunk smiled.

“There you go,” he said. Lance smiled back.


	13. matt and memes

Pidge paced the room. They weren’t entirely sure what to do. Their brother Matt was supposed to be coming over soon, and they weren’t sure what to do about Shiro. They didn’t want to ignore Shiro, but they also weren’t sure if Matt really needed to know about Shiro. Maybe it would be best to ask Shiro himself about it. His opinion mattered most in this situation, they supposed.

Yep, this was something they were doing now. Talking to a ghost. Well, this was new.

“Hey, Shiro?” Pidge asked. Looking up from the newspaper he was staring at so intently, Shiro’s face softened.

“Hey, Pidge. What’s up?” he asked. Pidge’s eyebrows furrowed.

“What are you doing?” they asked. Shiro grinned sheepishly.

“Trying to turn the page of this newspaper,” he said. Pidge raised an eyebrow.

“You can’t do that?” they asked. When Shiro shook his head, Pidge stepped a bit closer. Pidge raised their hand to turn the page, but paused questioningly. Once getting a nod from Shiro, Pidge turned the page. Shiro let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, I was getting bored. So, what can I do for you?” he asked.

“I was wondering if you would okay with my brother coming over. I know it’s technically not your house, but I thought it would be nice to ask you. If you are okay with it, I was wondering how we were supposed to act while he’s here,” Pidge said. Shiro paused to think for a moment.

“Of course it’s okay for him to come over. As for how you’re supposed to act… Maybe just act like I’m not here. If he can see me for some reason, then you can let him know that I’m here. Of course, it’s mostly up to you three,” he said. Pidge nodded gratefully.

“Okay, I’ll let Lance and Hunk know,” they said.

* * *

 

Even though Pidge was happy to see their brother again, they were also afraid of all the memes he and Lance would share together. The best way Pidge could think of to describe Matt and Lance’s friendship was to relate it to Meliodas and Ban’s from Seven Deadly Sins. Whenever the two saw each other, they started screaming memes at each other. Pidge didn’t even get half the references they made. It was a bit much. But there, was no time for that now. Matt’s car was sitting in the driveway. Pidge ran out to greet them before Matt saw Lance. There was no telling how long it would take to get a hug if Matt and Lance saw each other first.

“Pidgey!” Matt yelled. Slamming the car door behind him, Matt ran up to hug them. Pidge grinned.

“Hey, Matt,” they said. Matt picked them up and spun them around.

“Pidgey!” he said. His voice was even louder this time. Pidge couldn’t help laughing a bit. They hadn’t seen Matt in a while, with him being in college and all.

“Okay, okay, put me down. I’m sure you’re going to want to go scream at Lance,” they said. Matt’s heard jerked up.

“Right! You live with Lance now!” Matt took off towards the house, leaving Pidge rolling their eyes.

“LANCE!” Matt said. There was the sound of running coming from the hallway.

“MATT!” Lance said. He ran towards him. The two met in the middle, knocking each other in the foreheads. Lance let out an inhuman screech.

“JUDAS, NO!” Matt said.

“I MIGHT LOOK LIKE A BURNT CHICKEN NUGGET, BUT I LOVE MYSELF,” Lance said.

From that point on, Pidge had a hard time keeping up with the memes being shouted. They weren’t so sure they cared what memes they were. This could go on for a long time, and they weren’t going to waste theirs getting a headache.

“Let me know when you’re finished,” Pidge said.

“Fuck ya chicken strips!” Matt yelled. Sighing, Pidge rolled their eyes.

“Right,” they said.

Before Pidge could go far, however, Matt let out a startled shriek. Lance and Pidge’s heads jerked up. In the other room, Keith let out a startled groan. Matt had woken him up. Yep, great job Matt. Of course, Pidge wasn’t sure how the previous screaming hadn’t woken him up…

“Dude, what the fuck?” Keith asked. Pidge didn’t have to look at him to tell that he was upset.

“Ummm, I tempted to make a reference, but uhhh, something else. Pidge, you didn’t tell me Shiro was here! How’ve you been buddy?” he asked. Everyone paused, unsure of how to respond. Even Shiro stared at him. Matt stared back at Shiro.

“Wha--Oh! You’re a… Oh… Oh,” Matt said. His face quickly sobered. Shiro’s fell with Matt’s.

“Yeah…” he said. Matt frowned.

“I’m sorry,” he said. Shiro gave him a sad smile.

“It’s okay,” he said. Uncomfortable, Lance slowly removed himself from Matt’s headlock.

“You two know each other?” he asked. Matt nodded.

“Yeah, we went to the same schools. We were pretty close, but… Um, yeah,” Matt said. Everyone stood there awkwardly for a moment.

“Hey, Matt,” Keith said. Matt turned to look at him, giving him a soft smile.

“Hey, Keith,” he said.

“Not to be a fuck boy, but can I be excused from this situation?” Lance asked. Rolling his eyes, Keith snorted.

“When are you not a fuck boy?” he asked. Lance’s lips tightened into a thin line.

“I’m anxious, fuck off,” he said. Keith gave him half a grin.

“Gladly,” he said. Lance groaned.

“Are you two always like this?” Matt asked. Pidge nodded.

“Yeah, it’s getting really annoying,” they said. Matt grinned, looking as if he knew something. Pidge gave him a questioning look, but Matt gave no answer. Obviously, Matt had some kind of leverage on Lance, a secret maybe.

“Aw shut up Matt,” Lance said. The comment only made Matt seem more amused.

“I didn’t say anything. What’re you talking about, Lance?” he asked. Lance frowned.

“Yeah, okay,” Lance said. Keith looked back and forth between the two.

“I’m too scared to ask what’s going on,” Keith said.

“Me too,” Pidge said. Lance shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lance said. Pidge narrowed their eyes at him.

“When you say that, I worry more,” they said. Lance shrugged.

“Well, I don’t know what to say about that,” he said.

“Aight, understandable,” Matt said.

“BONELESS PIZZA,” Lance said. Pidge groaned.

“Here we go again, I’m out,” they said.

“HERE WE GO AGAIN, I KINDA WANNA BE MORE THAN FRIENDS,” Matt said.

“I’m out too. Fuck this shit,” Keith said. The two then proceeded in walking out of the room. The two meme loving fucks then grinned at each other, successfully looking exactly like the grinning cat emoji. Lance yanked his phone out of his pocket and began rapidly tapping the screen. Matt raised an eyebrow, but an answer was quickly given. Lance began blasting Animals by Neon Trees. Matt’s grin grew. Annoying everyone in the house was Matt’s favorite thing to do. Well, that and shitpost.

* * *

 

“If you yell one more time, I’m calling Coran,” Pidge threatened. They waggled their phone at the two sitting across from them. Lance slapped a dramatic hand to his chest.

“How could you?! I thought we were friends,” he said. Pidge rolled their eyes for the fiftieth time that day.

“Very easily, thanks for asking,” they said. Lance pretended to pout.

“Wow, I didn’t know you’d abandon your friends so easily,” Lance said.

“If it’s you, yes. Hunk? Not so much,” they said. Lance stuck his tongue out at them.

“You know what? I see how it is. I know when I’m not wanted,” he said. He began standing up from his chair. Hunk sighed. It looked like he was playing the dad figure for them, again.

“Sit down, Lance. You know they were joking,” he said. Lance let out a loud huff and plopped back down into his chair.

“Fine. But Pidge is a meanie panini,” he said. Matt let out a startled, high pitched gasp.

“PIDGE YOU TOLD THEM?! OH MY GOD, YES!” Matt said. Pidge frowned at Matt’s raised tone.

“Unfortunately,” they said.

“I can’t believe you told them we used to say that! It’s been so long since I’ve heard someone say that,” Matt said. Pidge couldn’t help but let themself grin a bit.

“Alright, alright. Just calm down,” they said. Matt continued to grin, but he settled down a bit.

“That was weird, and now I’m mildly uncomfortable,” Keith said. Lance stared at him.

“Woops,” he said. Sighing a bit, Keith shook his head.

“That was a joke, like a meme,” he said. Lance relaxed a bit.

“Ohh, okay,” he said. Keith tensed up a bit, muttering to himself a bit. Behind him, Shiro looked a bit concerned. Lance was pretty sure Shiro said something to Keith, but Lance wasn’t able to hear what it was he said. He supposed it was something to help Keith calm down a bit. Lance did feel bad about not getting the joke, but he didn’t know what to say. He felt like anything he said wouldn’t be helpful.

“So, Matt, how long are you staying here?” Shiro asked. His tone didn’t seem forced at all, and Lance admired that. Matt looked up from his food.

“Oh, since I’m on Spring Break, I should be here for about two weeks. Although, I’m going to be at my parents’ house on some days this week,” he said. Shiro nodded. The room fell silent for a moment as everyone except Shiro ate their food. Lance felt bad for Shiro. He didn’t get to eat Hunk’s amazing food. After a moment, Matt piped back up.

“Hey Shiro, after dinner, do you feel like catching up? It feels like forever since we last talked,” he said. Nodding, Shiro smiled.

“It does… Obviously, a lot happened. But yeah, I’m down,” he said. Matt grinned.

“Yeah,” he said.


	14. anxiety and the beginnings of a crush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry i'm so bad at updating so uhhhhhhhh  
> here  
> have some klance development. now with just as much awkwardness, if not, more. yeah actually, probably more  
> also sorry for the spacing being all weird; i'm just reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally lazy and don't wanna fix it

The look on Keith’s face continued to bother Lance. He wasn’t so sure what it was. Maybe it was the vulnerability on his face. Maybe it was the fact that he had hurt him. It wasn’t intentional, and Lance didn’t think it was still affecting Keith, but something about it continued to bother him. He was sure that it would continue to bother him until he confronted Keith about it. It was stupid, but Lance would rather not continue to think about it. So, talking to Keith it was.

Lance wasn’t exactly sure how to approach Keith. He didn’t know what he was going to say, just that he was going to say something. Before he lost his nerve, Lance knocked on the guest room door. There was the sound of shuffling for a moment, and a moment later, Keith opened the door a crack.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Lance asked. Keith sighed, but opened the door. Lance stepped in the room quickly, almost afraid that Keith would slam the door in his face before he got the chance to walk in. Noticing this, Keith eyed him warily. He motioned for Lance to move and closed the door.

“What is it?” he asked. Lance paused. Yeah, he really should’ve planned what he was going to say before he came in here. When Lance didn’t say anything, Keith glared at him. He opened his mouth and was about to snap at him when Lance finally spoke.

“I just feel really really dumb. You made a joke? And I didn’t really get it? I don’t know, I just feel dumb for it. I’m sorry I didn’t get that it was a joke,” he said. Keith paused, looking a bit confused. The awkwardness of Lance’s words seemed to put him off a bit.

“It’s okay. I’m just bad at telling jokes,” he said. Keith shrugged awkwardly, making Lance think that he really didn’t want to talk about it. Partly because it wasn’t a big deal, but maybe mostly because it was part of a bigger problem. A bigger problem that Keith didn’t want to talk about. If Lance left it alone, he wasn’t sure how to end the conversation without it sounding awkward. So instead, he just pushed the matter. Great job, Lance.

“Are you sure? I just--,” he said. Keith shook his head.

“It’s fine,” he insisted. Lance nodded.

“Okay,” he said. So much for trying to make it less awkward. Keith smiled at him.

“Thank you though,” he said. Lance felt himself smile back. Holy shit, that was cute. Wait, cute? Oh, fuck no.

“You’re welcome,” Lance said.

* * *

 

If something was bothering Lance, he almost always went to Hunk. Of course, with the development that Keith was cute, Lance had to go to Hunk. Sure, Hunk might tease him a bit, but he was the best at giving solid advice. Good advice was something Lance felt like he needed right now. A small part of Lance thought that he should wait to see if Keith continued to be cute, but he just ignored that. He should probably get some help before this got any worse. Lance absolutely did not want to end up with a crush on Keith. Keith was such a nerd. Maybe a cute nerd, but a nerd nevertheless.

“Hey Hunk?” Lance asked.

“Hang on a second!” Hunk said. The door didn’t open, and it seemed like Hunk was moving around a bit more frantically then he had previously been. Lance waited. And waited. And waited. How long had it been? Oh, not even a minute? Okay, yeah, that made sense… Lance continued to stand there.

Finally, Hunk opened the door.

“Sorry about that. I had work papers spread out all over the floor. It was a mess,” he said.

“It’s fine. Can I come in?” he asked. Hunk nodded quickly, stepping aside to let Lance in. When Lance walked, there were a few neatly stacked piles of papers around the room. Hunk’s desk was messy with unorganized paper, looking newly disrupted. There was nothing on Hunk’s bed, so Lance hopped onto it. Hunk sat down next to Lance, but not as carelessly.

“What’s up?” Hunk asked. Groaning, Lance leaned back on the bed.

“My thoughts are jumbling,” he said. Hunk lied down next to him, legs dangling off the side of the bed.

“What thoughts are they?” he asked.

“They’re about stupid Keith,” Lance said.

“Hmmm…” Hunk’s voice sounded both surprised and amused. Of course, he knew where this was going. Lance groaned again.

“Don’t make fun of me,” he said. Hunk chuckled a bit.

“I’m not. I’m just thinking. Why are you thinking about ‘stupid Keith’?” he asked.

“I don’t know. He just randomly pops into my head,” Lance said. Turning to face Lance, Hunk raised an eyebrow. His mouth twitched, like he was trying to hide a smile.

“Do you know why?” he asked.

Lance sighed. He then launched into a full explanation of his talk with Keith the night before. Once finished, Hunk was silent for a moment, thinking. Lance studied his face, trying to glean any information about his thoughts from his facial expression. When he got no response, Lance gave up. Finally, Hunk responded.

“Yeah, sorry Lance, buddy. It seems like you’re developing a crush. Another talk like this, and you’re done for,” he said. Lance was tempted to scream.

“You’re no help!” he said. Hunk smiled softly at him.

“Sorry… It’s not my fault you have some weird problem with him,” Hunk said. Lance stuck his tongue out at him.

“Yes, it is. You chose this house,” he said. He began to pout childishly, making Hunk laugh.

“Hey, you agreed to live here. It was a group decision,” he said. Lance frowned.

“Fine,” he said.

“Now, if that’s all, I’m going to need you to shoo. I have work to do,” Hunk said. Lance slid off the bed irritably.

“Fiiiine,” he said. He reluctantly left the room.


	15. the beginnings of a crush part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shiro why

Shiro was smiling at him. Keith didn’t like this. Shiro knew something, something Keith felt like he was supposed to know. What did Shiro know? A lot probably, but that wasn’t the point. Shiro knew something, and Keith was almost afraid to ask. Finally, Keith couldn’t take it anymore. He would just ask what Shiro was looking at.

“What?” he asked. Shiro smiled a bit more.

“Nothing, it’s just weird… Since I’m a ghost, I just see everything from a different angle than before. It’s weird,” he said. Keith rolled his eyes.

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s more than that. What do you know?” he asked. Shiro tried to force a straight face.

“What? Me? Know something? How could you think that?” he asked.

“Please don’t make me roll my eyes again,” Keith said. Shiro chuckled.

“Alright, alright. It’s you and Lance. The two of you seem to be getting along better, and I’m proud of you. But it’s also a bit amusing because I think--” Shiro said.

“Nope, nope, nope. Don’t say it,” Keith said. Shiro’s grin grew.

“I won’t. Just know you can talk to me,” Shiro said. Keith sighed.

“Fine. But don’t push me,” he said. Shiro chuckled again.

“I won’t,” he promised.

* * *

 

Although Keith seemed to mainly spend time with Lance (mostly by arguing), Keith also spent time with Hunk and Pidge. They were interesting people to talk to, and he got along with them well enough. Hunk was kind and nervous; Pidge was mature and intelligent. Keith could talk about a number of things with Hunk, but they didn’t always agree on everything. Of course, they never got into an argument; Hunk was a bit too passive for that. Hunk seemed to let everything slide off of his back. Keith could talk to Pidge about many a thing with Pidge too, and sometimes it felt like their conversations were much deeper. Together, the two tended to go very in depth with topics, especially theories, and debated the logics of different subjects. Time seemed to pass by quickly with Pidge, especially when debating. It wasn’t that Keith enjoyed spending time with Pidge more than Hunk--it was just that they had so much more in common. Keith felt a little bad for spending so much time with Lance. It felt like he didn’t get to talk to Pidge and Hunk enough. Maybe he should try talking to them on their days off. That seemed like a better plan.

* * *

 

Lance was frowning again, cutting his eyes at Keith.

“What are you doing?” he asked. Keith sighed.

“Looking at Tumblr,” he said. His struggle to remain calm was evident in his face. Well, this was going to end in an argument.

“Yeah, but you’re also ignoring me,” Lance said. Keith jerked his head up.

“I’m always ignoring you,” he said.

“Not like this--wow, hey! Finally! You admit that you ignore me!” Lance said.

“Um… I never said that I didn’t ignore you,” he said.

“Um, I’ve never been to Oovoo Javer,” Lance mimicked. Keith stared at him for a second.

“What? You sounded like that guy! From the vine!” Lance said. Keith just shook his head.

“No.” he deadpanned. Lance grinned.

“Yes,” he said.

“No,” Pidge said. They yelled from the other room.

“Yes!” Matt yelled. Pidge let out a frustrated scream.

“Aw piss off!” they said. Matt and Lance exploded into a fit of giggles. Meanwhile, Keith was trying to look unamused as Lance fell onto his shoulder. Was it really that funny? No. Was Lance utterly adorable as he giggled? Maaaybe. Keith let out a small snicker. This only added fuel to the fire. Lance and Matt started giggling even louder. Soon Pidge was laughing too. Shiro popped downstairs and stared at everyone.

“Memes?” he asked. Keith nodded. Shiro nodded, starting to grin himself.

It took a few moments for everyone to calm down, but when they did, Lance was wiping at his eyes.

“That wasn’t funny,” Keith said. Lance looked as if his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

“No! Don’t make me start laughing again!” His voice came out in a shrill shriek. Determined, Lance began to hold his breath. That didn’t work, and he let out a snort. Keith rolled his eyes.

“Nope, not again,” he said. Giggling, Lance nodded.

“Yes, again,” he said. Keith sighed. He waited as patiently as he could for Lance to calm down. It didn’t take long, but it still seemed as if Lance could burst into another fit of giggles at any time.

“Are you done?” Keith asked. Still smiling, Lance nodded.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said. Keith nodded slowly.

“Okay, good,” he said. When Lance’s lips twitched from the cautious tone of Keith’s voice, he was afraid that Lance would begin laughing again. Thankfully, he didn’t. They stared at each other for a moment. Yep, the laughter was over with.

“I have no idea what that was about,” Lance said. Keith shrugged.

“I obviously don’t either. Remind me to be careful not to do anything meme related around you,” he said. Lance grinned.

“Um, no, this is exactly why you should meme with me,” he argued. Keith sighed.

“Maybe. I’ll think about it,” he said.

“She said she’ll think about it,” Lance sang. Keith glared at him.

“Maybe I won’t think about it,” he said. Lance pouted.

“Aww, Keefy, pleeeease?” he asked. Keith rolled his eyes.

“Maybe,” he said.

Lance grinned again, seeming satisfied with himself. Keith rolled his eyes. Yes, Keith was the nerd here. Some part of Lance had to agree that he was a nerd too. Almost as bad as Keith, maybe. Either way, Keith was probably going to regret this conversation soon. He wasn’t so sure he wanted to get sucked into the world of memes.

* * *

 

With Keith’s agreement to think about memeing with Lance, Lance seemed much more agreeable with toning down how many memes he used. As Keith expected, it really couldn’t helped when Matt was anywhere near Lance. But at the very least, it gave Keith some breathing room. If he was perfectly honest with himself, Keith was mostly using this new found leverage to shut Lance up. Although he felt bad about it, he was glad for the little bit of peace he gained. However, he knew that he should probably start watching Vine compilations for Lance’s sake.

* * *

 

Several hours later, and Keith still wasn’t sure whether he wanted to be sucked into the world of memes or not. Either way, it was too late to make the decision. Whether he liked it or not, Lance had successfully gotten Keith into memes. God, this was a stupid decision. At least he know some of what Lance and Matt meant now.


	16. adhd / pidge's sarcasm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i just realized that this chapter kind of makes keith and lance sound like amy and jonah from superstore

Keith groaned.

“I’m not going to watch Aladdin again. Not for the the third time in a row. Nope, nope, nope,” he said. Lance pouted.

“Aw, why not?” He crossed his arms. Keith stared at him.

“If it’s okay, I’m going to assume this is an ADHD thing? Either way, just… No. I’m getting bored, and this is stupid,” Keith said. Lance shrugged.

“Okay, I see your point,” he said.

“What, what--?” Keith’s eyebrows shot up. Lance shrugged again.

“I don’t know. I just suddenly realized that I don’t want to watch this again.” Lance crawled towards the DVD player and took out the disc. Keith watched him. It didn’t really seem like Keith’s comment changed Lance’s mind, but he wasn’t sure what it had been.

“Why?” he asked. Sighing, Lance turned around to face Keith.

“I just really don’t feel like watching it anymore,” he said. Keith frowned.

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Keith threw his hands up.

“You don’t make any sense!” Lance said. Keith narrowed his eyes.

“Shut up!” Pidge said. They poked their head in from the other room just to glare at him. Lance gave them a pleading look. With a sigh, Pidge gave him a reluctant nod.

“What?” Keith asked.

“Keith, just ignore it, okay? It’s an ADHD thing. It’s hard for Lance to explain. He just lost focus is all,” they said. Keith paused.

“Okay, right…” he said. Lance watched anxiously as Keith took a moment to process what Pidge said. When he finally seemed to get it, he looked up at Lance and shrugged. Seeming satisfied, Lance shrugged back and turned back to the DVD player. After a few moments, he had a new movie playing. Tangled. Keith almost groaned out loud again. What was with all the Disney movies? However, if Keith was right to assume it had something to do with what Pidge just told him, he thought that it would be best to just not say anything. Thankfully for Keith, it’d been a while since the last time Keith had seen these movies. Plus, Lance looked so happy to watch these movies, it made it a bit easier for Keith to watch them with him.

* * *

 

Thanks to Lance’s laziness, he and Keith were best of bestfriends on Snapchat. Whenever Lance needed something, he messaged Keith, trying to make him do it. Of course, it never worked unless Keith was already up and near whatever Lance needed. Even then, Keith sometimes refused to do it. Whether they acted like siblings or an old married couple, Lance couldn’t tell. Either way, it was still annoying. It was amusing to Hunk and Matt. Pidge used these situations to scream at them. They must have let out a lot of their stress on the two of them from the amount of yelling they did. Lance was surprised they hadn’t lost their voice yet. Okay, maybe they didn’t yell that much, but it was enough to annoy Lance. And Keith. However, Keith was’t as verbal about his irritation. Shiro just kind of… floated in the background, amused. Shiro seemed to just be glad to be able to interact with people again. There was so much life in his house again; it made him happy. For someone who spent a lot of time not able to interact with others, he sure didn’t talk much. Lance was a bit concerned, but he never said anything about it. He didn’t want to upset anyone, especially not Shiro. Obviously, Shiro had been through enough.

Anyways, apparently Keith had decided to fight fire with fire. Lance phone dinged with a message from Keith on Snapchat. It was a picture of him smirking, captioned, ‘can you go get me a cup of grape juice?’ Lance frowned. He hadn’t seen Keith smirk like that before, and now… Well, now, Lance didn’t think he could stop this from really becoming a crush. He wasn’t so sure before, but after seeing the look on Keith’s face…. Whew… Yeah, Lance had a crush. A crush on Keith fucking Kogane. What the fuck? Well, Lance’s theory he had proposed to Matt a few years ago had proven true. Lance would probably end up with a crush on someone he couldn’t or wouldn’t flirt with.

Wait… Lance still hadn’t responded to Keith. After quickly taking a picture of himself flipping off the camera, Lance captioned his response with, ‘fuck u, fine.’

A few seconds later, Lance got a response. Keith, looking even more smug than the previous picture, thanking him. Yeah, whatever, Lance thought. He didn’t say anything, but forced himself out of his chair and down the hallway.

When Lance appeared at Keith’s door, the door was already open a crack.

“Keith?” he asked. Keith quickly appeared, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Fuck. Keith took the cup from him.

“Thanks,” he said. Lance rolled his eyes.

“Just don’t get it on the carpet or anything,” he said.

Keith sighed. “I won’t, mom.”

Lance grinned. “Don’t take that tone with me, young man,” he said. Startling Lance, Pidge popped their head through their own door.

“Do you guys have a mommy kink or something? Either way, this is an ace space safe, so go the fuck away,” they said. The two boys stared at them.

“Ew,” Keith deadpanned. Lance nodded in agreement.

“Gross,” he said. Before Pidge could respond, Keith grinned a little.

“Dude, what the fuck? This is your space; this is your area. They can’t do that here,” he recited. Lance snorted. However, Pidge wasn’t amused. One might say, as amused, but one would get glared at and insulted. Sighing, Pidge face palmed.

 

“Just flirt somewhere where I can’t hear you,” they said. Before either boy could respond, they quickly shut the door.

“I would ask if there was something else you needed, but now I’m mildly uncomfortable,” Lance said. Keith snorted.

“Um, yeah, me too,” he said. Lance paused, then turned around, walking away. Just. What the fuck? Sometimes, Lance was almost convinced that Pidge was a telepath. The fact that the amount of teasing from Pidge increased right as Lance realized he probably liked Keith almost scared Lance. If they weren’t careful, Pidge was going to get experimented on for the scary time accuracy. Lance was almost certain this wasn’t a coincidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh so i was feeling extra adhd when writing this so kill me


	17. needing to get back on track

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sobs* keith is so beautiful

It was hard for Keith to forget that he was here for a reason. He wasn’t here to flirt--argue with Lance. Or to swap theories with Pidge. Or learn how to cook from Hunk. He was here for Shiro. Just because he was having a good time, that didn’t mean he could just forget his purpose. He was here to help Shiro. Maybe Allura too, if she needed to lean on him. Shiro was close to both of them, after all. Keith wasn’t the only one struggling. Even if Keith didn’t really want to talk about it, it was nice knowing there was another person who knew what he was going through. Speaking of Allura… He wondered when she’d be able to see Shiro. He hoped she could soon. Having everyone else be able to see your dead boyfriend, almost fiance, must suck. Keith would hate that. It would make him feel… not special? He didn’t know how to word it, and it wasn’t something he wanted to think about. As if it would help, Keith shook his head.  
Speaking of Hunk… It was almost time for dinner, and today was another day that Hunk had agreed to teach Keith. Keith’s cooking skills were almost as bad as Shiro’s; it must be a family thing. Either way, Keith wanted to learn to cook, and he was grateful for Hunk’s help.

* * *

 

Hunk was a great teacher, and Keith was sure that it wouldn’t be long before he stopped burning water. No, he wasn’t that bad. He could make the most basic of meals, but anything more than that, Keith tended to ruin. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it sure made things difficult. He was scared he would get sick of the food he ate soon. It wasn’t like he had the money to eat out all the time, either. Maybe Keith played too much of the Sims, but sometimes, when Hunk taught Keith, Keith felt like a Sim. Hunk would have the top level cooking skill, while Keith was only on level one. Shiro wouldn’t even have a level. He would just microwave food in the Sims.  
Well, anyways… Everyone was eating dinner. Keith helped a little bit with making dinner, so when no one immediately gagged when they started eating, Keith almost felt a bit proud of himself. He managed not to ruin food. Of course, with Hunk being the main cook, Keith doubted even Shiro could mess up the meal.  
Occasionally, during the meal, Keith would glance at Hunk, a bit anxious. Whenever Hunk saw Keith glancing at him, he smiled softly, reassuringly. Keith could see why Lance praised Hunk so much. Even if he was anxious himself, Hunk had such a calming air to him. Something about him was so comforting. Maybe it was because Hunk knew how it felt to be anxious. He knew just what to do to calm someone else down. Keith was grateful for it.

* * *

 

As if it wasn’t bad enough that Lance dragged Keith into memes, he also seemed to want to drag Keith into serious self care. Whenever Keith did something that Lance found to be too self-deprecating, he would scream. Well, not literally. Most of the time. Lance was determined to make Keith take better care of himself, and Keith wasn’t sure how he felt about that.  
As for right now, Lance was forcing Keith to let him put some skin care cream on his face. It was pretty uncomfortable for Keith, but it felt nice for someone to actually care about him. Lance was rambling about how much better he’d feel and look, but Keith wasn’t paying much attention. He was just staring at Lance. Maybe it was dangerous to do so, but Keith couldn’t help himself. Lance was so close, Keith could see things about him that he normally couldn’t. He could see the little things Lance had done to take care of himself. He could see faint freckles on Lance’s face. He could see the intent look on of concentration on his face, eyebrows knitted together. He could see how truly soft Lance’s hair was from intense care. Keith could see much more about Lance. Before he knew it, Lance was finished applying the skin cream to Keith’s face.

“All done!” Lance said. Startled, Keith almost jumped. Shit, his face was a bit warm. Thankfully, Lance didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh, um, thanks,” he said awkwardly. Lance grinned.

“You’re so welcome,” he said. He scooted back on the bathroom floor. After a moment, Lance snickered. Keith sighed.

“What?” he asked. Lance shook his head.

“People just look so weird usually with this stuff on. Somehow, you still look pretty. You look funny, but still pretty,” he said. Keith froze.

“I’m pretty?” he asked. Lance froze for a second too, but then quickly relaxed.

“Yeah? You didn’t realize that? Wow, you’re more emo than I thought,” he said.

“Having a low self-esteem doesn’t make you emo. And that’s not what I meant. I just didn’t think you found me attractive,” he said. Lance frowned.

“Just because you annoy me doesn’t mean you’re not attractive,” he said. Keith nodded.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” he said. Grinning, Lance nodded back.

* * *

 

Today Matt was going to meet Allura for the first time. Matt was already here, but Allura was going to be over soon. They were all having lunch together. Keith wasn’t sure how Allura would feel about Matt. Matt was a bit like Lance, so maybe she’d be a little annoyed with him. However, Matt did flirt a bit less, so maybe she would find him charming. Keith didn’t know… As long as Matt didn’t act the same as Lance around Allura, Keith was sure that everything would be fine. Well, Keith wasn’t entirely sure how Lance acted around Allura. He knew that Lance had been flirting with her before, but things were changing. Keith was unsure if Lance would still act the same. Maybe he wouldn’t want to make her too uncomfortable; especially with Lance being able to see Shiro and not her. Keith really hoped Lance dialed it down a bit. Maybe even for selfish reasons too. Yep, Keith was most definitely gay. Shiro was right, when he had tried to say that Keith had a crush on Lance. He did. Fuck.

Calm down, Keith, he told himself. Keith took a deep breath. That barely helped. Well, it was better than nothing. With another huff, Keith stepped out of his room and walked down the hall.


	18. matt's remaining emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhh so angst is a thing that happens here

God, she was beautiful. Lance wasn’t kidding. She was… as beautiful as Shiro. It made Matt’s heart ache. He missed Shiro so much… But this Allura… God, she could’ve had him believing she put the moon and the stars in the sky herself. Of course, Matt didn’t let himself stare. For long… He couldn’t be serious for too long. He wouldn’t allow himself the leisure of nostalgia.

“You’re so beautiful!” Matt yelled. Allura raised an eyebrow, grinning.

“Why, thank you. You’re Matt, right?” she asked. Behind Matt, Lance’s jaw dropped.

“His flirting isn’t annoying?!” he asked. Allura smiled at him.

“Not quite as much, Lance. Plus, I just met him,” she said. Grumbling to himself, Lance pouted. Satisfied that Lance was finished talking, Allura returned her attention to Matt.

“So… You’re Matt. I’ve heard a bit about you,” Allura said. Matt nodded stiffly. What was she going to say? He hoped she wouldn’t bring up that time in high school.

“Oh, well, that was nice of Shiro,” he said. It only took a second before Allura realized Matt was uncomfortable.

“So, you’re Pidge’s brother, aren’t you?” she asked. Relaxing a bit, Matt nodded.

“Yeah, that’s me. The one and only,” he said. He bowed, causing Allura to smile at him. In the background, Lance was still grumbling to himself. Keith was watching him, looking a bit amused. Both Allura and Matt turned to look at the two. Allura gave Matt an amused glance, and Matt nodded.

“So, Keith, everything is going well, I take it?” Allura asked. Keith jerked his head to look at Allura. Matt could tell he didn’t like being caught staring at Lance. Keith quickly nodded.

“Yeah, of course. Everything’s fine,” he said. Lance looked at him, confused. He opened his mouth and then closed it. Matt tried not to snort at him.

“Well, I’m glad. Thank you for letting Keith stay here, Lance,” Allura said. Lance gave her a wide smile.

“Yeah, no problem! It’s fine!” he said. Keith rolled his eyes.

“God, do you ever stop flirting?” he asked.

“No arguing,” Shiro interrupted. Allura’s head jerked up.

“Shiro?” she asked. Shiro looked at her, eyes softening.

Out of the corner of his eye, Matt saw Keith drag Lance into the other room. Lance looked as if he wanted to object, but he didn’t say anything. Lance understood. He just didn’t want Keith treating him like a baby.

“Hey,” Shiro said softly. The two smiled at each other. The feeling of nostalgia nagged at Matt’s brain.

Not right now. This isn’t the time, Matt thought. Nevertheless, he still felt empty. Dammit. Why couldn’t he just feel fine? Why did his brain insist on making him feel this way? Especially now? Allura and Shiro looked so happy; it reminded Matt of high school. He had to stop himself from shaking his head. Not right now, he insisted. His brain finally listened. The thoughts kept at bay, but not the emotions. With the thoughts gone, the emotions were sure to ease soon. Hopefully.

“Matt…” Shiro said. Matt looked up.

“Yeah?” he asked. Shiro smiled at him softly. Shiro always knew when Matt’s brain was working overtime. He still did… No. Not right now. Smile now, think later.

“Please don’t deal with this on your own, okay?” he said. Matt nodded reluctantly.

“I’m here if you need me. If that’s okay,” Allura said. Beautiful and nice? There was no denying what Shiro saw in Allura. Matt swallowed nervously.

“Yeah, thanks,” he said. Allura’s face brightened a bit.

“Good. Thank you, Matt,” she said. Matt gave her a small smile.

* * *

 

The more time he spent with Allura, the more Matt began to see what a good person Allura was. There was no doubt in his mind that Allura and Shiro were made for each other. Maybe Allura was a good person, but that just made it worse. It was choking Matt. All he could think about was the fact that Allura was a better person for Shiro than Matt had been. They understood each other so much more, and they got along so much better. Matt was sure he could handle it, especially with his schedule, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Matt still felt the pain of losing Shiro and the pain of knowing someone who was so much better for him. It made Matt feel like a worse person. Maybe Pidge was starting to notice because they took it easy on him. They didn’t tease him so much, and they didn’t snap so much about the jokes he made. Matt thought that maybe Pidge knew him better than Shiro did. Considering they were siblings, it wasn’t much a surprise, but some part of him hurt. It made him feel like Shiro and Matt hadn’t been as truly close as Matt thought they had been. It shouldn’t matter anymore, but Matt couldn’t help but dwell on it. Thankfully, there were enough distractions to let it get to him too much. There was always Lance making jokes with him, Pidge and their parents to talk about college with, Keith to mess with, and Hunk to calm down with. Everyone here was so kind, that it made it hard for Matt to feel sad. It was mostly at night, when he was trying to get some sleep that it really got to him. Of course, Shiro was always there, so when everyone else was at work or other places, he was still there to talk to. It might’ve ached to be around him with all the thoughts swirling around his head, but he still enjoyed Shiro’s company. There were some times that he would forget all of his turmoil and loosen up. He could relax and just bathe in Shiro’s company. Matt was thankful for those moments, those peaceful moments. Those moments were just him and… the man that used to be his best friend. In those moments, he forgot the “used to be” part. In those moments, everything was normal again. It was like the beginning of high school, when Matt was just realizing his feelings for Shiro. Matt ached for that time. He ached for those moments. He couldn’t get enough of them. Those moments were the happiest he felt in a long time.


	19. reese's and shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here have some fluff as an apology for the angst

Lance let out a high pitched scream.

“Who ate my fucking Reese’s?!” he screamed. Walking into the kitchen, Keith blinked sleepily. He had just woken up from a nap.

“What?” he asked. Lance whipped around to look at him. Holy shit. He looked so sleepy; it was adorable. He was wearing an oversized shirts and baggy sweatpants; his shoulder was poking sightly out of the head hole. His hair pulled into a messy, low ponytail. Lance allowed himself to stare for only a second longer before stuttering out a response.

“Did you eat my Reese’s?!” he asked. Keith blinked and froze, waking up the rest of the way. Good. Lance could breathe now.

“Your Reese’s?” he asked. He wasn’t accusing, just confused. Lance frowned.

“Yes, my Reese’s,” he said. Keith scratched his arm sheepishly.

“Sorry. I thought this was… Ah, nevermind,” he said.

“No, it’s fine… I guess. But you have to buy me new ones!” Lance said. Keith smiled at him a little.

“That’s fine, but you have to go with me,” he said. Lance grinned.

“Deal,” he said.

* * *

 

Had Keith been flirting? He wasn’t sure. Had Lance been flirting back? He sured hoped so. Honestly, he had no clue if Lance had been flirting with him. It was hard for Keith to tell. Of course, he did seem a bit more calm than usual… Not as angry… Not as argumentative… So, maybe… that was flirting? God, Keith felt complicated. How the hell was Keith supposed to be able to tell?!

No, he needed to calm down. He was sure that Lance wouldn’t expect him to be able to tell. Well, either way, they were going to go get candy from the store. Together. Like, how a couple moved in together would do… Shit, nope, not right now. Focus, Keith. He jerked his clothes on as quickly as possible. Talking to Lance would probably keep his mind busy enough that he couldn’t dwell on it too much. Well, maybe not. Lance was the guy he had a crush on, after all. Keith sighed, cursing quietly to myself.

“Boy trouble?” Shiro asked. Keith let out a startled yelp as Shiro materialized in front of him.

“No, shut up,” he said. Unfortunately, Keith could feel his face heating up. Shiro chuckled.

“Yes.” Shiro crossed his arms as if it would get Keith to give up and let him in. Well, it worked. When Shiro crossed his arms, it usually meant he was putting his foot down.

“Fine, yes. I’m going to the store with Lance. It just feels like something a couple would do. I don’t know.” Keith slipped his shoes on. Shiro nodded sympathetically.

“I get it; it’s weird. I’m sure Lance feels the same way. However, I’m pretty sure that he likes you too, so there’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure of it,” Shiro said. Keith flushed, rolling his eyes.

“No. There’s no way. He flirts with girls all the time,” he said. Shiro smiled, looking quite amused.

“You should’ve seen the first time Lance and Matt met,” he said. Now Shiro had Keith’s full attention.

“What?” he asked.

“Lance was only sixteen, and Matt was twenty-three. Lance tried flirting with him,” Shiro said. Keith snickered.

“Really?” he asked. Shiro nodded.

“Yeah. Lance thought he was so smooth. Too bad for him, Matt’s too old for him. If they were the same age, I’m sure they’d end up dating,” Shiro said. Keith grinned, thinking about it.

“Yeah… So… He’s bi? Pan?” Keith stood up. Shiro shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never asked,” he said. Keith nodded.

“Makes sense…” Keith said. Shiro smiled.

“Right… You ready to go?” he asked. Keith sighed.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said. Shiro smiled and followed Keith down the hall.

* * *

 

Again Keith wondered if Lance was flirting him him or not. Instead of his usual belligerent attitude, Lance was smooth and relaxed. He easily kept pace with Keith, making himself look more graceful than usual. He looked how he usually looked when walking up to a cute girl. Was Lance doing this for Keith? On top of the walk and the smoothness, Lance’s hand kept brushing up against Keith’s. Keith might’ve ignored it, but Lance didn’t immediately rub his hand off on his shirt. Lance left his hand swinging by Keith’s. Keith wasn’t sure if he completely loved this change in attitude, but it was nice to not be arguing for once. Conversation felt much easier, and Lance didn’t pick at everything Keith said. Keith was really beginning to enjoy this, and he felt his guard begin to slip. He let it happen. Just this once. Keith was ready to put it right back up if need be. For now, he just wanted to relax.

Well, as long as Lance’s hand rubbing against his own didn’t begin to irritate him.

If it did, would he flirt aggressively with Lance?

… Maybe…

No time for that. The two had finally reached the entrance to the store. Lance’s hand moved away from Keith’s, diminishing his hopes for more contact from Lance, and picked up a basket. Part of Keith was relieved, for he didn’t have to feel the stress of wondering whether or not to grab Lance’s hand or not. Another part of him was upset, for he was sure Lance must have been doing that on purpose. He must’ve. Doubt nagged at Keith, but he did his best to ignore it. Just this once, he would allow himself the luxury of feeling as if someone could possibly like him.

Before Keith could dwell for too long, Lance switched what hand he was holding the basket in. Lance’s hand returned to being so close to Keith’s. This boy was going to drive him crazy.

The two boys walked around the store for a while, picking up more groceries and candies than originally planned. Keith was making Lance buy macaroni and cheese, cream of chicken, and tuna fish.

Yep, he was going to make his comfort food: macaroni, cheese, and tuna fish. Keith was going to make Lance try it.

“It’s good! You’ll like it!” Keith said. Lance looked at the ingredients suspiciously.

“Are you sure?” he asked. Keith grinned.

“Yes. You’re going to like it, promise,” he said. Lance raised an eyebrow at him.

“Promise? What happens if I don’t?” he asked. Well, today was filled with the same question repeated over and over again in Keith’s head. Maybe the answer was yes? Keith would take a risk.

Grinning, Keith shrugged, leaning towards Lance a bit.

“I don’t know. What?” he asked. Lance grinned, unconsciously leaning towards Keith a bit more.

“You have to eat the whole thing at once,” Lance said. God, Lance was hopeless. The brown haired boy leaned back, putting his hands behind his neck nonchalantly. Keith rolled his eyes.

“No problem. I’d love to do that,” he said. Lance’s eyes widened.

“Wait, really?!” he asked. Keith nodded slowly.

“Yeah?” he said. Lance frowned.

“That’s.. a lot. I think. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it made before, so I don’t really know how many servings it has,” he said. Keith grinned.

“A lot? I don’t know… My dad and I used to eat it all the time together. We’d eat the whole thing at once,” he said. Wanting to hear more about Keith’s dad, Lance’s face brightened. He nodded quickly.

“Really?” he asked. Keith nodded slowly. Nope, not opening up anymore.

“Yeah…” Keith let his voice trail off. Looking a bit disappointed, Lance nodded.

“Yeah,” he repeated.

The two walked in silence for a moment. Say something, Keith told himself. Nothing. Lance’s hand wasn’t touching his anymore. Did Lance think Keith was that upset? Keith didn’t want that. He wanted to keep getting along. Keith grabbed Lance’s hand. A bit startled, Lance looked at Keith abruptly. He stared for a second, but grinned. He didn’t pull away. Keith grinned back. Basket full, Keith and Lance returned to the front of the store to check out.

* * *

 

“I take it it went well?” Shiro asked. Grinning, Keith nodded into his pillow. It wasn’t like Shiro could currently see the huge grin on Keith’s face. Shiro chuckled, causing Keith to throw a pillow at him. It went right through him and landed harmlessly on the floor.

“Tell me about it later,” Shiro said. There was amusement in his voice, so Keith knew he wasn’t upset. He knew that Keith just wanted to think for a little while. They’d talk later.


	20. teasing and maturing

Pidge grinned.

“You tried so hard to stop this from becoming a crush. Well, too little, too late, Mariposa,” they said. Hunk chuckled a little.

“Keep your Barbie references away from me,” Lance said. Pidge cackled, mocking evil.

“If I could think of any more of them, I’d torture you with more references.” They cracked their knuckles threateningly. Lance groaned.

“No,” he deadpanned. Pidge snickered a bit more, but laid off. It wasn’t fair to make fun of Lance when he was in such a weak state. Watching Lance pine for someone was one of the most amusing things for Pidge to watch. It was probably unfair to make him suffer more. Probably.

Hunk smiled. “I’m rooting for you. You two are as cute as Ben and Leslie,” he said. Lance stared at him, jaw slightly agape. Talk about dramatic.

“Hunk, no one is as cute as Ben and Leslie,” he said. Hunk chuckled, putting his hands up in defeat.

“Okay, okay. Maybe not as cute, but you’re pretty close,” he said. Lance frowned for a second, thinking. He seemed to find that to be an acceptable answer, shrugging.

“Yeah, I’ll take that. I am pretty cute. So is Keith, so…” He grinned to himself. This wasn’t as funny anymore. Lance must’ve noticed Pidge’s frown because he grinned at them.

“Hah, no more feeding off of my suffering,” he said. Pidge made a face.

“When you say it, it sounds weird,” they said. Lance shrugged.

“At least you’re not laughing at my pain anymore,” he said. Holding back a grin, Pidge rolled their eyes.

“Yeah, okay,” they said. Lance grinned triumphantly. Yeah, definitely not as fun anymore.

* * *

 

Lance liked to listen to Bo Burnham, but Pidge most definitely did not. Something about him made Pidge uncomfortable. Maybe it was the humor. Something about the humor just made Pidge want to cringe. Unfortunately, sometimes Lance liked to play Bo’s music out loud. Now was one of those times. Now normally, Pidge would object; however, now had a special circumstance. Lance was showing Keith the music, and he looked so happy. Keith seemed to be liking the music. As much as Pidge liked teasing and yelling at Lance, this was something they just couldn’t yell at him for. The two looked so happy, Keith staring at the TV screen, and Lance staring at Keith. Lance watched as Keith’s face twisted in fascination. Every time Keith smiled, Lance’s grin somehow grew wider. Pidge wondered when Lance would explode. Or when his lips would split. It didn’t seem like long. Lance’s smile almost seemed to reach his eyes already. Pidge was tempted to tease him. They were sure that Keith would catch his staring soon, see the look on Lance’s face. Lance was not making it hard to guess that he liked Keith. Pidge swore that Lance was giving Keith puppy dog eyes. Just a moment more. Pidge would just wait a moment before yelling at Lance.

It’d been a moment…

“Lance, look like Markiplier looking at a game about dicks on Steam,” Pidge said. Turning pink, Lance jerked his head up to look at Pidge.

“Oh, yeah? Well you look like, um…” Lance trailed off, thinking. Pidge raised an eyebrow.

“Like?” they asked. Lance paused.

“Like a professional moron,” he said. Matt burst into the room.

“PROFESSIONAL MORON,” he yelled. Pidge glared at him.

 

“Wha--oh… Okay,” Matt said. Matt walked over to a Pidge and perched his elbow onto their shoulder. Yes, Lance was so obvious that even Matt could tell with just a glance. Well, it kind of helped Lance’s case that Matt had talked to Pidge earlier.The two had talked about theories on how to get the two together. Considering they both already seemed to be oblivious idiots, neither thought this was going to be very easy.

* * *

 

Lance hadn’t told Pidge and Hunk exactly everything that happened while at the store. Besides some incomprehensible rambling, all Lance had really said was that the two had had a really good talk. They had a really great conversation, and they hadn’t argued the whole time. They came close a few times, but none of those times actually crossed the line. The two had a great time. Pidge had a feeling that Lance wasn’t telling them something important, but Lance refused to reveal any further information about the trip to the store. Just from Lance’s behavior, Pidge felt a bit bad for anyone at the store that had to watch the two. It sounded overly cute, cute enough to make you gag.

But then again, Lance tended to be like that. He would gush and gush over people he liked. He would talk about all the nice things he wanted to do for that person. It was honestly and it did a great job showing how sweet Lance was, but it was a bit too much. He just went on and on and on. He sounded like a character from a show or a game that was too overly attached to a person. Like Clive expressing his love for Mathilda.

Anyways… Pidge and Hunk had caught up Allura on the situation with Keith and Lance. Shiro already knew from Keith’s side, so they were all sitting down together. Both Keith and Lance were out, doing whatever they needed to do that day. Keith was working, and Lance was having a ‘treat yourself’ day. The fact that Lance called it that probably helped show how obsessed he was with that show. Either way, Pidge was grateful for it. It gave them a chance to talk to everyone about Keith and Lance. Well, those two and anything else that came up. Allura and Shiro were great people, so they were glad to speak with them.

At the moment, Pidge had their feet resting in Hunk’s lap as the two sat on the couch. They were having a really affectionate day, so they were glad that Hunk that loved platonic affection so much. Pidge didn’t always love affection so much, even the platonic kind, but they had their days.

Across from the two, sat Allura, Shiro, and Matt. The three sat in armchairs set close to each other, the two outer ones slanting towards the middle. Pidge was unsure of how Shiro and Allura would act, sitting next to each other, considering the conditions, but didn’t say anything. It wouldn’t do to start problems where none existed. That they knew of… Allura had settled down with a cup of warm tea. Matt was sprawled out on his chair, legs hanging out of one arm of the chair. He had no drink with him at the moment. On the coffee table between the chairs and the couch sat a Gatorade bottle. It was Pidge’s. Cool Blue. Their favorite.

“Do you think I should talk to Keith? Maybe nudge him towards opening up around Lance more?” Allura asked. She stirred her tea. Hah. Tea with tea. Well technically, there wasn’t any tea here.

Everyone knew the whole situation.

Shiro shook his head. “I don’t think so. From what I’ve heard from him so far, it seems like that could cause more harm than good,” he said. Allura nodded, tilting her head thoughtfully.

“This feels like a book club,” Pidge said. The other four made various sounds of amusement.

“It does…” Matt said.

“Yes… Do you think Coran should be included in this conversation? I’m sure he’d have some good advice to give,” Allura said. Pidge shrugged.

“If he wants to. Part of me feels like he’d tell us to stop gossiping though,” they said. Shiro smiled fondly. He probably missed Coran. Pidge should remember to invite Coran over more often.

“He would. Just in case though, Allura, you should catch him up later,” Shiro said. Allura nodded.

“Will do,” she said.

The next hour and half was filled with conversation. Keith and Lance were most talked about, but the four did venture into different subjects. It was a fun conversation, and Pidge was glad to be conversing with them. Sometimes, mostly talking to the same three people could get a bit old. Even if Hunk was still here, which Pidge was grateful for, it was nice to have other people to talk to. Pidge didn’t get to talk to Matt very much, considering he was so busy with school and studying.

Thankfully, when Lance got home, no one was talking about him and Keith. Lance would get so annoyed if he found out they were all talking about him and Keith. Either that, or he’d get a really big head. He was just so awesome that everyone was talking about him. And Keith. … But Lance too.

“Hey, Allura! What are you doing here?” he asked. The shock on Allura’s face was visible for only a second. Lance wasn’t flirting. Wow, he must really like Keith if he wasn’t flirting with Allura. Either way, Allura seemed to be a bit grateful for it.

“Just catching up with everyone!” She might’ve technically been telling the truth, but there was still a hint of awkwardness in her voice. Thankfully, Lance didn’t seem to notice; he just nodded.

“Aw, I wish I could’ve been here then. Sorry!” he said. With that, Lance walked into the other room. He was carrying too many shopping bags to want to stand around for much longer.

Everyone looked at each other. That was… weird. Maybe it was easier it happened then, when everyone was present. No one would be screaming at another, promising that it really happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh it's a longer chapter than usual


	21. anxiety and rationalizing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> suspicious lance

Everyone was acting so weird. Yeah, maybe Lance didn’t flirt with Allura earlier that day, but Lance had stuff on his mind. Plus, he had heavy bags. Heavy. Bags. There was no reason to be so weird about it. It was also a bit weird that Allura had come over without Lance knowing. No one had said anything about having a big talk in the living room. He wasn’t told everyone would be talking together. Well… Minus him, Keith, and Coran. Was that weird? Lance thought so, but he didn’t want to think about it too much. The more he thought about it, the more anxious he got. The more anxious he got, the closer he got to asking Hunk and Pidge about it. Asking Hunk and Pidge about it would be giving in to anxiety, and Lance absolutely did not want to give into anxiety.

Maybe Lance should talk to Keith about it. Keith probably wouldn’t be so anxious about it. Keith would think it’s okay. Not that Keith’s opinion had that big of an impact on Lance’s, but it would be comforting to know that someone thought it was okay. That seemed a lot better than going to Hunk and Pidge. So Lance would. Just not right then. He was trying to sleep. Lance was pretty sure that Keith wouldn’t take kindly to being woken up at three in the morning. Maybe he was already awake? Lance didn’t think so. Keith had seemed tired before he went to bed. Maybe Keith was still awake because of anxiety?

No. Lance was not going to argue with himself about this.

So was he going to go see if Keith was awake? Yep, he was.

Sighing, Lance slid out of bed, bringing his blanket with him. He wrapped it around himself, shivering a bit. Once he reached the door, he turned the knob as quietly as possible. Once in the hallway, Lance picked up the part of the blanket still dragging on the floor behind him. He really didn’t want to make any extra noise. Considering Pidge’s and Hunk’s reactions to Lance’s crush on Keith so far, Lance knew that they didn’t need any more fuel to add to the fire. If the two found out Lance was going to Keith’s room this early in the morning, he was sure the teasing would never stop. Even if Keith and Lance got married someday. They would still be teasing him.

Not much time had passed when Lance stepped on an odd spot on the floor. As the floor creaked in protest, Lance cringed a bit, pausing. When he could hear no other noises, Lance continued to creep down the hallway quietly.

Soon, Lance could hear Keith moving around in his bed. Lance knocked softly on Keith’s door. “Keith?” he whispered. The tossing and turning paused.

“Yeah?” Keith’s response was so quiet, Lance almost didn’t hear it.

“Can I come in?” Lance asked.

“Yeah.” As soon as Keith responded, Lance quietly opened the door.

Eyes already adjusted to the darkness, Lance could see that Keith was curled up in a ball under his covers. Whether it was from sadness or from being cold, Lance couldn’t tell.

“Can I?” Lance asked. He leaned over the bed. Keith nodded. With that, Lance climbed into the bed next to Keith. After a moment, Keith reluctantly curled up next to Lance. Keith felt cold. Then maybe Keith had been cold, not upset when Lance came in. If that was the case, Lance felt relieved.

“So, this probably could’ve waited until morning, but I couldn’t stop thinking,” Lance said.

“That’s okay,” Keith mumbled. Lance inched a bit closer to Keith. What? He was cold.

“When I came home earlier, everyone was in the living room, and Allura was there. They looked like they’d been there for a while. Normally, I wouldn’t really think anything of it, but it just feels weird. No one really said anything to me about Allura being over today,” Lance said. Keith was silent for a moment. Before Lance could fear that he had fallen asleep, Keith responded.

“That’s weird… What were they talking about?” he asked. Lance shrugged, shoulders touching Keith’s.

“Just random stuff, I think. I mean, at the time, they were talking about how college was going for Matt. They talked about other stuff too after that though,” Lance said. Keith hummed in agreement.

“Maybe ask them about it tomorrow?” he asked. Somehow, Lance had his arms around Keith, and Keith was leaning into him. This was a thing friends did, right? Sometimes? This was fine. Just fine. Well, it would be less weird if Keith didn’t sound like he was about to fall back asleep. Or was that not weird? Should Lance leave? He wasn’t sure.

“Maybe… I just didn’t want them to think I was being weird or anything,” Lance said.

“I don’t really think that’d be weird,” Keith said. Seriously, should he back to his room? He was really comfortable and warm, but Lance didn’t want to make Keith uncomfortable. Maybe he would’ve already said anything if it was bothering him that much.

“Yeah… Thanks,” Lance said. They stayed there for a moment, Lance feeling more and more awkward.

“Um… You can stay in here if you don’t feel like getting up,” Keith said. He sounded just as awkward as Lance felt.

“Thanks,” Lance said. They stayed there for a moment.

“Lance,” Keith said. He sounded irritated.

“What?” Lance asked.

“Your feet are icicles. Get them off,” Keith said. Lance let out a soft snort. Despite his amusement, Lance moved his feet away from Keith’s legs.

“Sorry,” he said.

“It’s fine,” Keith said.


	22. regretful anxiety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh i'm sorry for the lack of updates i'm really forgetful  
> but hey  
> i guess i'll just add all the chapters until now at once? uh yep, cool, yeah

When Keith woke up, he was confused for a moment. Lance was snuggled up to him, but he didn’t remember any of this happening. It took him a second. Right. He and Lance had had a conversation last night. That made more sense.

Lance looked so peaceful. He was smiling about something. His arms were wrapped around Keith, and his head laid on Keith’s side. Rolling his eyes, Keith smiled softly at him. He let himself relax a bit before trying to decide what to do.

Keith could move, but Lance looked so happy. Plus, the look on his face looked adorable. And Keith didn’t want to disturb him.

However, Keith really had to pee, and his stomach was growling.

Wait.

Keith grabbed his phone from under his pillow and quickly took a picture of Lance. There. Now Keith had less reasons not to move. … Keith still wasn’t moving. He was still sitting, watching Lance.

Maybe Keith should draw on Lance’s face. That’d teach Lance to be so cute. Yeah, no. Not doing that.

Before Keith’s inner monologue could continue any further, Lance began to stir a bit. He rubbed his eyes sleepily.

“Morning,” he murmured. Keith could feel his face heat up a bit.

“M-Morning,” he said. Lance looked up and smiled at Keith. Keith’s face heated up even more. Yawning, Lance sat up and stretched. Pausing, Lance stared at the wall for a minute. Keith would’ve taken a minute to stare at Lance a bit longer, but it really felt as if he was going to pee himself. Keith bolted out of bed and into the bathroom connected to the bedroom. Lance immediately let out a startled noise.

“Woah, okay…” Lance said. Keith let out a small noise of amusement from inside the bathroom. Neither said anything as Lance waited for Keith to get out of the bathroom. As soon as Keith exited the bathroom, Lance nearly pushed Keith out of the way to go in. Annoyed, Keith sighed. Lance apologized.

Once returning from the bathroom, Lance hopped back on the bed next to Keith. When Keith didn’t move or make any noises, Lance leaned his head on Keith’s shoulder. Keith still didn’t say anything, but tensed up a bit.

“Sorry,” Lance said. He sat up straight.

“It’s okay,” Keith said. Unfortunately, Keith’s voice came out a bit more awkward than he intended. Lance gave him a tight lipped smile and hopped off the bed.

“Ready for breakfast?” he asked. Keith nodded. Not only was he starving, but Keith was dying to get rid of the awkwardness that he was pretty sure he created.

* * *

 

Lance wasn’t as good of a cook as Hunk, but he was pretty good in his own right. For breakfast, he made pancakes for everyone. Pidge was already up, but of course, they hadn’t eaten yet. They were typing rapidly on their laptop, and Keith was pretty sure they were coding something. Or hacking. He couldn’t tell. Hunk, on the other hand wasn’t up yet, but Lance assured him that he would be up soon. Pidge also said that Matt was up, he was just out. Where exactly he was, Pidge wasn’t sure. They thought that he was probably at Best Buy or something. Fucking nerd. Who goes to Best Buy first thing in the morning? Granted, it was eight-thirty… So maybe, it wasn’t exactly first thing, but it was pretty damn close. Either way, Keith was sure only Matt would do that.

Anyways…

Pidge gulped down their food quickly, returning to their computer as soon as possible. They seemed pretty focus, and neith Keith nor Lance wanted to bother them, partially due to the fact that they didn’t want to be snapped at by Pidge. Despite their small stature, Pidge could be pretty scary if they wanted to be.

Pidge had just taken their last bite when Hunk entered the room. He was already dressed.

“Good morning, guys!” he said. Lance’s face brightened at the sight of him.

“Morning, Hunk!” he said. When Hunk saw the pancakes, his face lit up.

“Aw! You made pancakes! Thank you, Lance.” Hunk gave Lance a small hug.

“Yay, hugs!” Lance cheered. Hunk smiled, picking up a plate of pancakes.

Keith began to pick at his pancakes a bit. Anxiety always lessened his appetite, and right now, Keith was feeling a bit anxious. Of course, he knew it was his felt. Or at least, he felt like he knew. Well, great. Now he was so anxious he was questioning his anxiety.

Lance was beginning to notice Keith’s reluctance to eat. He didn’t seem so sure on what to say. Finally, he said something.

“The pancakes taste bad, Keith?” Lance asked. Keith looked up.

“No, they’re fine… I just…” Keith trailed off, but Lance nodded.

“Anxious?” he asked. Keith nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. Lance nodded softly.

“That’s okay,” he said. On one hand, Lance’s lack of irritation lessened Keith’s anxiety. He wasn’t angry, making Keith feel like maybe he hadn’t messed up too much. On the other hand, it made it worse. Keith fucked up, and Lance was being so nice to him. He wasn’t snapping at him, he wasn’t seeing the guilt that Keith felt. He thought it was fine. Keith couldn’t understand it. This only made Keith further realize what a good person Lance was. Sure, he was stubborn, argumentative, and pretty damn annoying, but, on the inside, he was such a nice person. Yeah, Keith really liked Lance.


	23. most common anxiety factor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wooooooo angst  
> kill me

“You, what?!” Shiro asked. Keith cringed.

“Don’t yell at me,” he snapped. Shiro didn’t really yell, but it still felt like it. Panic began to build in Keith’s chest. Shiro’s face softened.

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for… What happened, Keith? Tell me the whole story,” he said. Keith sighed.

“Well, Lance was really anxious, so he was still awake. I was awake because of anxiety, although I didn’t really say anything about it. He laid down next to me, and we talked. We ended up getting really tired, so he stayed here. It’s no big deal, right? Lance would do the same with Hunk, were it something that Lance wanted to talk to him about. I don’t know why, but it’s just making me feel all weird… I feel kind of bad thinking about it,” Keith said. Shiro was silent for a moment, thinking.

“But, nothing really weird happened, right?” he asked. Keith nodded. Talking about this was making it worse. His chest was getting tighter and tighter. This was stupid. Shiro’s eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Hey, it’s fine. You’re okay. Nothing bad happened. Just because you like him doesn’t mean that you took advantage of him,” Shiro said. Keith nodded slowly again.

“I… Yeah, you’re right. Just…” Keith sighed.

“Hey, take a deep breath,” Shiro said. Keith did so.

“Okay, yeah, that’s… Yeah, that’s better,” Keith said. He didn’t sound that much better, but nor did he feel that much better. However, it was a start. The two sat in silence for a moment.

“If it’s okay to ask… What did you guys talk about?” Shiro asked. Keith shrugged.

“Just something between us,” he said. Shiro nodded.

“That’s okay,” he said.

* * *

 

Little did Keith know, Lance felt similar to how he felt. Lance didn’t know about Keith either, but he had similar reasons as Keith for feeling so rotten on the inside. Lance felt bad. He felt so, so bad. He had slept in the same bed as Keith. Yes, Keith, the guy Lance had a crush on? Yep, him. Lance felt so guilty. He doubted that Keith knew that Lance liked him. If Keith knew Lance had a crush on him, would he have even let him near him last night? Especially so late at night? Would Keith have lashed out at him and called him a pervert? As far as Lance knew, he wasn’t one. At least, he hoped he wasn’t. However, he felt like this situation wasn’t helping his case. Lance had already been accused of being one many times by having such a flirtatious attitude so much of the time, and usually, he’d never really believe it. This situation though… He was starting to think that those accusing him might be right. Of course, Lance didn’t really want to change. He had worked pretty hard to get to this place in his life. He spent years as a teenager building his confidence, looking different from how he felt, exuding such a confident air. To have one single person destroy so much of that change so quickly devastated Lance. He promised himself that he wouldn’t let a single person change himself so much like that again. Now, he was breaking that promise. Lance couldn’t deal with this alone. Lance had to go to Hunk with this. Hunk would know what to do. Or, at the very least, Hunk would ease some of Lance’s anxieties. He always did. Lance would just wait until both he and Hunk had gotten off work. Great. A day filled with anxiety. Well, more so than usual.


	24. ghost dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mother knows best but it's shiro and shiro isn't just doing it for the immortality  
> speaking of  
> before she got her hair cut off, could rapunzel use her hair to make herself younger if she wanted to?  
> also idk why this chapter is so short

Lance paced the room. Of all the days for Hunk working late, it just had to be today.

“You okay there, Lance?” Shiro asked. Lance shrieked, startled.

“Uh, yeah. Fine, just dandy,” he said. Crossing his arms, Shiro raised an eyebrow. He didn’t believe that for a second.

“Oh, really now?” he asked. Lance frowned at him.

“Yes,” he said. Shiro continued to stare Lance down; Lance was such a bad liar. Both were silent for a moment.

…

Lance tried to keep his mouth shut, but goddammit, Shiro was so persuasive. Something about him made Lance want to open up. It was probably because he had such a dad like personality.

“Fine. I’m just anxious,” Lance said. Shiro continued to stare.

“About?” he asked. Lance sighed.

“Keith, I guess? I don’t know… He just? I really--Ugh…” Poor Lance’s stuttering wouldn’t let him get a sentence out. He slapped his to his face in frustration. Shiro smiled at him.

“It’s okay. Take your time,” he said. Was he making fun of him? No, he looked pretty sincere. Sighing, Lance thought for a moment.

“Okay, yeah. You’re Keith’s older brother, so I don’t know how good of an idea this is, but yeah… I like Keith. Like more than a friend. Like even more than a best friend? Anyways, I like him a lot,”

Lance said. He cringed, waiting for Shiro to respond. To Lance’s surprise, Shiro chuckled.

“It seems like you’re both upset over nothing then,” he said. Lance’s jaw dropped.

“What?!” Lance ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m not saying anymore. You two should talk, like real adults, you know?” Shiro said. Lance stared for a second.

“I would say that’s not fair, but you have a point,” he said. Shiro smiled.

“I know.”


	25. talking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> he bi bi bi boi

Lance was still going to talk to Hunk. Shiro’s advice might’ve helped quite a bit, but Lance was still anxious. Not as anxious as before, but still anxious. It was like when you drank soda. You might have said that you drank all of the soda, but technically, there were still drops of soda in the can. That’s how Lance felt. He still had those little drops of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. Lance would’ve continued the metaphor, including Hunk in it, but he was pretty sure that would make the metaphor weird. Another thing Shiro’s talk had helped with was making time pass by faster. Hunk was home before he knew it.

“Hey, Hunk, the love of my life, the sweetest being on Earth, the ease of my anxieties, the maker of my happiness, can I talk to you?” Lance asked. Hunk raised an eyebrow.

“What’d you do this time?” he asked. Lance pretended to pout.

“How dare you, good sir? I didn’t do anything,” he said. Smiling, Hunk rolled his eyes.

“Sure, Lance. What’s up?” Hunk asked.

“No, like, in front of either no one or Pidge,” Lance said.

“Oh,” Hunk said, nodding. Pidge’s head perked up.

“I’m coming, and so is Matt,” they said. Could they tell it was about Keith? Probably. They were pretty perceptive like that.

Matt turned his head tiredly. “What?” he asked. Pidge motioned for him to follow.

“I am not a zoo animal,” Lance said. Pidge grinned.

“Oh, yes, you are,” they said. Lance sighed, but offered no further objections.

* * *

 

Surprisingly, the whole time Lance talked, he wasn’t interrupted. All three listeners remained silent as Lance explained what happened. No questions were even asked when Lance left out what he and Keith talked about.

“Wow… Okay, so that’s a lot of Klance development,” Pidge said. Lance’s jaw dropped.

“Hey! Don’t give us a ship name!” he snapped. Matt grinned.

“I know. It’s a bad one. We need a better one. Like Laith,” he said. Lance closed his mouth and pursed his lips into a thin frown.

“You know what? Sometimes I really fucking hate you,” he said. Matt grinned.

“That’s okay, I always really hate me,” he said. Lance sighed.

“I walked right into that,” he said. Matt nodded.

“You really did.” Matt shot finger guns at Lance, causing Lance to shake his head.

“Whatever,” he said. Matt grinned, nodding.

“Anyways,” Hunk said.

“Um, yeah, anyways,” Lance said. Smiling a bit, Hunk rolled his eyes.

“Lance, you were the one that helped derail the conversation so much,” he said.

“Are you with me or against me?” Lance asked. Hunk chuckled.

“With you, Lance,” he said.

“Good,” Lance said. He grinned a bit. Everyone was silent for a moment, thinking.

“So, what are you going to do, Lance? Are you going to say something to Keith?” Matt asked. Lance paused.

“I’m not sure yet. I’m still not sure what I would say to him,” Lance said. Matt nodded sympathetically.

“I get that,” he said.

* * *

 

The talk with everyone made Lance feel a bit better. He was a bit more sure of himself in the situation, and he felt closer to making a decision on what to do. They had all talked for a while, and the three seemed to think that Lance should talk to Keith. With the addition of Shiro’s opinion, Lance was pretty sure he wanted to talk to Keith. The main question Lance had was when. When should he talk to Keith? Or was this something that would just happen naturally? Part of Lance hoped so; he knew he would probably over prepare for a moment. It would be less awkward for it to happen naturally. However, Lance was also afraid of it happening naturally. He wouldn’t be prepared. What if he forgot what he wanted to say? What if he blanked? What if it was so awkward that Keith laughed at him? Granted, it would be cute to see Keith laugh, but Lance didn’t want Keith to laugh at him because of that. Not like that.

Lance didn’t want to spiral anymore. He’d made up his mind. He would talk to Keith about everything, and he would let it happen naturally. Even if it wasn’t one of his strong suits, Lance just needed to be patient. He needed to wait for the right moment. When it happened, he didn’t want to let himself hesitate. He didn’t want to question if it was the right moment or not. He was just going to talk to Keith.


	26. spiraling and joking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *insert witty comment about this chapter here*

Waiting for the perfect moment proved to be harder than Lance thought. Maybe he was overthinking it, but a part of Lance didn’t think he had experienced any right moments. It could’ve been due to his impatience, but it seemed like these moments were coming slower, now that Lance was waiting for one. Sure, there were soft moments between the two, but Keith and Lance weren’t alone in those moments. Just a single sound from a person could ruin the moment, and Lance didn’t want that. It happened all the time in movies, and he already hated it enough when that happened. He could imagine how much he’d hate it to happen in real life. Not a pretty sight. Well, it wasn’t exactly an ugly sight either… Just an unpleasant one.

He was spiraling again.

Lance let out a frustrated huff, muttering to himself.

“What’s got your undies in a wad this time?” Matt asked. Lance frowned.

“The same thing,” he said. Matt grinned.

“Hey, do you wanna try and say something before I leave? At this rate, Pidge is going to be rambling to me on the phone,” he said. Lance grinned.

“I’m okay with that,” he said. Matt mock pouted.

“Fine, I see how it is. I thought we were friends, but then you go and do something like this, so I guess I was wrong,” he said. All of what was said was said in one breath. Matt spoke so fast, Lance had a hard time understanding what he said.

“That was the plan all along,” Lance said, grinning. Mat fake sobbed.

“Oh, I should’ve known!” He slapped a faint hand to his forehead.

“You really should’ve there were clues everywhere,” Lance said. Shiro popped into the room, causing a small popping noise. Startled, Lance jumped. Matt laughed at him.

“You guys are ridiculous,” Shiro said.

“You gays,” Matt corrected.

“No, you pans,” Lance said. Matt nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. Matt grinned. Something seemed to click in Shiro’s face, and he seemed to be suppressing a grin.

“Ugh, Shiro, no,” Matt said. Shiro shook his head, grin breaking forth.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Rolling his eyes, Matt grinned.

“No,” he repeated. Shiro continued to grin.

…

“Okay, fine, yes,” Matt said. Shiro grinned wider.

“There is so much gay tension here, I’m just going to leave,” Lance said. The other two cracked up.


	27. crushing, crushing, kissed with the pain and the great one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just go ahead and kiss the giiirrl

Unfortunately for Matt, he did end up leaving before Lance got the chance to talk to Keith. Of course, he didn’t leave before embarrassing the shit out of Lance in front of Keith. Yeah, that would show him. Lance still didn’t think that was a very fair punishment for his procrastination. Lance had anxiety for fuck’s sake. Okay, maybe he was being a bit dramatic, but he still thought Matt’s actions were a bit much. Causing someone anxiety in one situation didn’t make them any less reluctant to cause themself anxiety in another situation.

Anyways… Keith now knew about how he had ruined his little sister’s recital once. Poor Veronica had her ballet recital ruined when Lance let a rocket go off during her show. Lance had never thought he’d hear the end of it. And, with Matt’s speech to Keith, Lance was sure he never would. This was giving Lance flashbacks to his mom screaming at him all over again. He almost shuddered at the thought of it.

Speaking of Lance’s mom… He hadn’t talked to her in a while, and he thought that maybe he should do so soon. Maybe he should talk to her about Keith. He knew she’d love to hear about him. Hell, she might even try to start including him into the family. Note to self, don’t introduce Keith to mom until necessary, even if she insisted on Lance introducing him when she heard about how cute he was.

* * *

 

Today was Keith and Lance’s turn to go to the store. They were going together to stop each other from impulsively buying everything in the store. If Lance was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure why the two didn’t go with either Hunk or Pidge, considering they had quite a bit more resistance to buying nonessentials. It wasn’t that Lance didn’t want to go with Keith, he just thought it was weird. Something in the back of Lance’s mind nagged that Pidge and Hunk were up to something, but Lance ignored it. Now wasn’t the time to be anxious. When was the time to be anxious? Never; never worked.

* * *

 

Before another doubtful thought could come to mind, Lance turned the key, shutting off the car.

“Ready to go?” he asked. Keith shook his head.

“Hang on,” he said. Lance waited patiently for a minute, watching as Keith situated himself. After a moment, he looked back at Lance.

“I’m ready,” he said. Lance nodded.

The two climbed out of the car.

Shopping with Keith seemed to make everything more bearable. When Keith was with him, Lance didn’t have to stop himself from dragging his feet on the floor or go to look at movies and toys for no good reason. Being with Keith made him feel less bored, and it helped him stay on track.

“Lance, that’s too many cans of soup,” Keith warned. Lance snorted.

“Are you sure? I mean, you never know when we’ll suddenly need nine cans of soup,” he said. Keith laughed. The sound was music to Lance’s ears. It was a genuine, amused laugh. Shit. Lance felt his heart skip a beat.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Keith said, smiling. When Keith’s smile stayed, Lance felt his heart melt a bit. Keith didn’t smile like that often, and to see it for more than a second made Lance’s knees weak. Like a dumb school girl in a teen romance novel. God.

“Well, okay, if you say so,” he said. Lance had to concentrate hard on not letting himself stammer. He made sure to sound much calmer than he actually felt. Keith nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. Lance grinned at him.

The two continued to walk around the store, cracking jokes, pointing at ridiculous off brand items. Lance swore that a few of the off brand items looked like the pictures had been taken from stock photos.

“No, I’m telling you! That’s the guy from the screaming stock photo!” Lance said. Keith giggled.

“If you say so, Lance,” he said. Lance grinned triumphantly.

“I do say so,” he said. There was a pause. Keith stared at him. Lance could feel his heartbeat speed up. Was Keith leaning towards him? He was, wasn’t he? Or was Lance’s mind playing tricks on him?

No, he was. Should Lance lean towards Keith? Or would that ruin everything? Was Lance being overdramatic? He felt like he was being overdramatic. Yeah, he was. But Lance knew he was frozen. he was frozen, and he was scared that Keith would be scared off by it. Would Keith think he was rejecting him? Or just being nice? Oh, God. Lance’s face was so warm, and his heartbeat was out of control.

It was too late to think.

Keith was on his tiptoes, mouth against Lance’s. Lance relaxed a bit, kissing Keith back.

Keith pulled away soon, but Lance was grateful for at least those three seconds. When Lance opened his eyes to see Keith’s face, he saw that Keith’s face was red. Probably as red as Lance’s; if not, redder.

“I, uh… Sorry,” Keith muttered. Lance shook his head so hard, he almost thought he might give himself whiplash.

“No, no, no, you’re fine,” Lance said. Keith gave Lance a questioning look.

“How is it fine?” he asked. Smiling softly, Lance resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Because I like you?” he said. Keith’s eyebrows furrowed, making him look a bit frustrated.

“Really?” he asked. Lance nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. For some reason, Keith didn’t seem convinced. He stood there for a moment. Finally, he said something. It was soft and quiet, and Lance was almost unsure he heard it.

“Really?” Keith repeated. Lance nodded again.

“Really. I promise,” he said. Keith’s frown turned up into a small smile.

“Yeah,” he said. Finally, he believed Lance. It hurt Lance that Keith didn’t believe him. He understood, having learning that Keith trust issues in the past few weeks, but it still hurt. He liked Keith so much, it never crossed his mind that Keith could think that Lance couldn’t like him romantically. Especially with how well they’d been getting along lately. With a sudden burst of energy, Lance picked Keith up and spun him around. Cheesy. Very cheesy. However, Lance had one of those ADHD feels. He felt the impulsiveness that he felt randomly because of his ADHD.  
Keith squeaked in surprise.

“Who am I? Cinderella?” he asked. Setting Keith down, Lance laughed.

“Yes, you are. Obviously I’m Prince Charming.” He winked at Keith, causing Keith to cover his face in embarrassment.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he mumbled. His voice sounded a bit muffled.

“It does. Especially since it’s a fact,” Lance said. Grinning, Keith rolled his eyes.

“Be quiet,” he said. Lance chuckled.

“Okay, fine, fine,” he said.

The two finished shopping, paid for everything, and went home.

Lance was definitely glad that he and Keith went shopping together. Even if it was a bit suspicious of Hunk and Pidge to do.


	28. crushing and worrying

Yep, Hunk was a genius. He and Pidge both knew that Lance got unnecessarily excited at the store. It didn’t take much thought to realize that Keith would find it absolutely adorable. As far as Hunk could tell, Keith seemed to be a sucker for cute things. He liked Lance for fuck’s sake. Lance was as cute as it got.

Obviously, neither Keith nor Lance had said anything. They didn’t say what happened at the store, but it was pretty obvious. From the looks they were giving each other and the way they were acting, Hunk and Pidge could tell something had happened. Neither was going to press the matter; they didn’t want to ruin their chances on ever getting told what happened. Although, Pidge was starting to feel a bit impatient. They couldn’t wait to hear how irritated Matt was to not be here to witness it. Well, technically, he wouldn’t witness it directly, but he didn’t get to witness Lance’s explanation completely. Sure, he might hear Lance over the phone or something, but Matt didn’t get to see the look on Lance’s face. He didn’t get to see how embarrassed Lance was and tease him about it.

Well… Unless they used Skype or something. However, Pidge was pretty sure that Lance didn’t want to give Matt any more ammo against him. Also, Matt didn’t use Skype very often.

Pidge didn’t want to go so far as to be considered mean, so they decided against suggesting doing a Skype call. All they wanted to do was tease Lance, not be an asshole. Even if they were still tempted to suggest it.

* * *

 

It didn’t take long for Lance to come to Pidge and Hunk about what happened. Maybe it was because of how happy he was, so he let his guard down.

“Guys, so--” Lance started. Pidge interrupted him.

“Spill it, Sharkboy,” they said. Lance frowned at the nickname, but obliged nonetheless.

Lance quickly explained what happened, only slowing down at Pidge’s irritation. When he was finally finished, he let them know of his suspicion. Obviously, they weren’t impressed. They thought that maybe he would’ve figured it out sooner.

“I know you did that on purpose,” he said. Hunk grinned.

“Yeah, that took you a long time to figure out,” he said. Crossing his arms, Lance frowned.

“Oh, come on! That’s not fair!” he said. Pidge grinned along with Hunk.

“Yeah, come on, Hunk! He was distracted by his love for Keith!” they said. While Lance groaned, Hunk cracked up.

“I’m sorry, you’re right, Pidge,” he said. Pidge nodded triumphantly.

“Yes, yes, I’m glad you see my side,” they said.

“I hate you both,” Lance said. He slammed his face into the pillows in front of him. Before Pidge or Hunk could retort, Lance let out a muffled scream.

“Ah, finally, the day has come! I’m finally hated by Lance! Now I can complete my spell,” Pidge said. Jerking his head, Lance stared at them for a moment. Pidge stared back.

“Nope, nope, nope. This is not turning into another staring contest,” Hunk objected. Both turned to at him. Hunk blinked nervously.

“No?” he asked. Lance and Pidge laughed.

“Okay, fine,” Lance said.

* * *

 

 

“What’s up, Fire Lord?” Shiro asked. Keith sighed, unsure how he felt about that old nickname being brought up.

“Fine, I guess,” Keith said. Shiro raised an eyebrow.

“We’re not at the dinner table, and I can’t send you to your room. Tell me what’s wrong,” Shiro said. Confused, Keith stared at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Inside Out?” Shiro asked. Keith blinked.

“That--Just, stop,” he said.

“That’s fair. You still have to tell me what’s wrong though,” Shiro said. Keith sighed again.

“I’m just anxious…” When Keith trailed off, Shiro stared at him for a second. Usually, when Keith needed to talk about something but refused to do so, it was like pulling teeth getting information out of him.

“Anxious about what?” Shiro asked. He remained patient. He was used to helping Keith calm down. This wasn't very different from usual. Well, besides the fact that Shiro was dead.

“I’m just thinking about Lance, I guess. I’m pretty sure he likes me back? But for some reason, some part of me is having a hard time believing it,” Keith said. Shiro smiled proudly. Keith was talking more willingly than usual… Maybe this was some of the affect Lance was having on Keith. Even if it wasn’t, Shiro was proud of Keith. Really proud. Keith had always had a really time hard opening up, and for him to open up so quickly made Shiro feel pride well in his chest. Unfortunately, Keith seemed to be able to tell how proud Shiro felt because he groaned out loud.

“Don’t give me that look. I like Lance a lot,” he said. Shiro grinned.

“That’s not what I meant by that smile. I’m just really proud of you,” he said. Keith paused. For a moment, Shiro could see Keith give him small smile.

“Oh, yeah, whatever,” Keith said. He was beginning to clam up again.

“It’s understandable for you to be anxious about Lance. I know how anxious romantic feelings make you feel. But I promise you, Lance likes you back. You should see the way he looks when talks about you or the way he looks at you when you aren’t looking,” Shiro said. Looking down, Keith tried to hide an embarrassed smile.

“Really?” he asked. Grinning wider, Shiro nodded.

“Yeah, it’s almost amusing,” Shiro said.

“Aw, leave him be,” Keith said. Shiro chuckled.

“Only if you believe me when I say you have nothing to worry about,” Shiro said. Keith paused.

“Yeah, okay, fine. But only if you help me talk to him more,” Keith said. Shiro nodded.

“Of course,” Shiro said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you so cute girl i be reading lemon fabrics all day


	29. allura's panic and lotor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *randomly adds in character seiki k style*

There was a knock on the door. Confused, Lance looked out the window. Oh, it was Lotor. Their next door neighbor. Great. Sighing, Lance moved reluctantly towards the door.

“What?” Lance demanded. Lotor sighed.

“I was just wondering if Allura was over. She texted me, sounding a bit freaked out, and she hasn’t responded to me yet,” he said. Completely forgetting his dislike for Lotor, Lance’s eyes widened.

“What happened?! What’d she say?!” Lance asked. Lotor frowned.

“Is she here or not?” he snapped. Sighing, Lance shook his head.

“She’s not. Now, tell me what’s wrong,” Lance said.

“Fine. She said something about Shiro. Something about needing to see him, but not being able to,” Lotor said. Lance paused.

“But she… umm… Come in real fast, I’ll be right back,” Lance said. Once Lotor had sat down in the living room, Lance took off in the house.

It didn’t take long to find Shiro. He was in Keith’s room. Poor Keith looked so confused.

“Shiro? Did something happen to make Allura not able to see you?” Lance asked. Shiro paused, shaking his head slowly.

“No…? What’s wrong? Is she okay? Is she in the house?” Shiro asked. Lance could see the panic rising in Shiro’s face. Oh God. What had Lance done? Lance had never seen Shiro freak out before.

“No, no, no, everything’s fine. I think. It’s just… She texted Lotor, all freaked out. Both of you guys should follow me,” Lance said. That didn’t help any. Shiro barely relaxed. He took off into the living room, Lance and Keith following close behind. When Keith and Lance entered the room, Lotor looked a bit startled. He raised an eyebrow.

“That was fast…” he said. Keith rolled his eyes, mumbling under his breath. Obviously, both he and Shiro had dealt with Lotor before.

“Can you explain to the--to Keith what you told me?” Lance asked.

After a pause, Lotor reluctantly explained to Keith what was going on. This time, he showed the conversation between him and Allura. This made Lance believe that Lotor trusted Keith more than he did Lance. Which made sense, Lance hadn’t known Lotor for as long. Plus, Lance was pretty sure he was quite a bit meaner to Lotor than Keith was.

In the background, Shiro was quite distracting. He was pacing, mumbling, panicking. It was a frightening sight, but Lance wasn’t sure on how to calm him down. Especially with Lotor being there. Keith seemed to be quite a bit concerned too, but he didn’t say anything. The panic on Keith’s face made Lance felt like he had to step up. He needed to find a way to calm Shiro down. Keith had enough on his plate right now to be worrying about Shiro. Lance had to do something.

Something…

Before Lance could think anymore, Lotor sighed.

“I know Shiro’s here,” Lotor said. All three heads jerked towards him.

“What?” Keith asked. Lotor rolled his eyes.

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know you can see him too,” he said.

“Wait, really?” Shiro asked.

“Please don’t make me roll my eyes again,” Lotor said. Everyone paused for a moment.

“If you really can, then answer this… Um… What color are Allura’s eyes?” Shiro asked. This time, Lotor did roll his eyes.

“Blue,” he said. Everyone relaxed a bit.

“The only thing is, I can’t see him. Just hear him,” Lotor continued.

“Wait, how?” Lance asked. Lotor shrugged.

“I’m not quite sure… However, I do think that it’s a hereditary thing. I’ve done research on some of my ancestors, and it seems they had the same power. Some of them were tried for being witches or put in insane asylums, seeing as they heard voices that no one else could hear,” Lotor said. He seemed so nonchalant about it, it was a bit unnerving. But of course, he had probably been dealing with ghosts for most of his life, after all.

“So, should somebody else text Allura and check on her?” Lance asked. Lotor nodded.

“Yes, but, obviously, be careful. She might not want to talk about it,” he said. Both Keith and Lance rolled their eyes.

“Yeah, no shit. I have anxiety, I know how this goes,” Keith said. Lotor frowned.

“Right,” he said.

* * *

 

Allura didn’t respond for a while. Lotor insisted on staying until she responded, and seeing how concerned he was, nobody could bring themselves to make him leave. Lance hadn’t seen Lotor care so much about something before, it felt strange to witness Lotor in such a state. Lotor was anxious, and it was just so fucking weird. Meanwhile, Shiro looked a bit uncomfortable, but Lance didn’t blame him.

Finally, Allura texted back. Her text wasn’t very specific, but it made sure to let everyone know she was okay now. It turned out, she started thinking about Shiro and got really upset. She’d been brooding for a while, and she didn’t talk to anyone about it, causing everything to bubble up. Lance was pretty sure he heard Keith muttering something about he was the one who reacted to problems like this. Not Allura.

When Shiro heard Allura’s response, Lance was afraid that he might start crying. He looked defeated and destroyed. After a mumbled apology, Shiro quickly disappeared from the room. Lance was tempted to go after him, but he wasn’t sure how he would be able to help Shiro. Plus, he was so afraid of the whole situation, he was pretty sure his panic might have an affect on Shiro and make it worse. So he just kept quiet. He watched everything in silence, unsure on how to process anything. He wasn’t always the best comforter, and now was one of those moments where he couldn’t get himself to say anything. All he could do was sit and panic.


	30. comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> why does this feel like a troye sivan song?

Lance lingered hesitantly at Keith’s door. Should he knock? Or just barge in? Or just… not? Keith had locked himself in his room all day, and Lance knew for a fact that wasn’t healthy. Seeing Shiro so panicked had an affect on Keith, and Keith was in full panic mode right now. It didn’t help that he knew that Allura was having such a hard time too. Lance had to do something. Fuck it. Lance knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” Keith’s voice sounded a bit weak. Wait, what’s that sound? Oh yeah, the sound of Lance’s heart starting to rip in half.

“It’s--It’s Lance. Can I come in?” he asked. There was a slight pause. Please say yes.

“Alright,” Lance said. He slowly opened the door. When Lance opened the door, Keith was huddled in a ball on his bed. It didn’t look like he had been crying, but it looked like he was pretty close to starting. Keith quickly sat up.

“Hey,” Keith said. Lance walked towards him a little bit.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked. Keith frowned at him.

“Obviously not,” he said. When Keith saw Lance recoil, he sighed.

“I’m sorry… I just…” Keith’s voice trailed off. Lance smiled sympathetically.

“I get it; it’s okay,” he said. Keith shook his head.

“No, it’s really not. I keep snapping at everybody--and it’s not fair to them,” Keith said. Sighing again, he pulled his knees to his chest.  
“Well, to me, at least, it’s okay. You can snap at me if you need to. And I’m sure everyone else understands. You’re working on it, aren’t you?” Lance sat at the end of the bed.

“I-I guess? I don’t know,” Keith said. His breathing was growing more and more spastic. Some part of Keith was trying to block out what Lance had said. Some part of him didn’t want to believe him.

Keith wanted so desperately to believe it, but for some reason, he just couldn’t.

“Keith, I promise you, it’s okay. As long as you’re trying your best, that’s all that matters,” Lance said. Keith held out his hands.

“Look,” he said. His voice was filled with frustration. Lance looked at his hands; they were shaking. Lance took Keith’s hands into his own.

“Hey, look at me,” Lance said. Keith did so. They stared at each other for a second.

“It’s going to be okay,” Lance said. He squeezed Keith’s hands. Nodding, Keith took a shaky breath.

“Yeah…” he said. Lance pulled Keith into a hug.

“Yeah,” Lance repeated.


	31. feelings never to be returned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lollura angst bc i wrote this after season 5 came out i think

He cared about her so much. Did she see it? Probably not. Of course, she knew he cared, but she didn’t know how much. She didn’t know all of what he would do for her. He would bring him back to life for her, even if it hurt him to do so.

Lotor already knew he didn’t have a shot with Allura, so even if Lotor could bring Shiro back to life, that wouldn’t lessen his chances anymore. Nothing Lotor could do would bring Allura’s attention to him. Nothing he did would ever convince Allura to like him the way he loved her.

That’s right. He had realized it by now. Lotor didn’t just like Allura romantically. He loved her. He loved her so much that, sometimes, he would just sit and let his heart ache, thinking about her. There was no way she could return his feelings. Maybe she would be stuck on Shrio forever. Maybe Allura would never move on. Maybe Lotor wouldn’t get to see her happy like that again, not even with someone else. Maybe Lotor wouldn’t be able to help fix her. It broke his heart to see her like that.

There was nothing he could do for her. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Lotor was spiraling with thoughts of he, and he couldn’t stop. He was sliding down the Endless Staircase with no dragon to save him.

Only a shade to meet him with a pointed sword. A sword that already pierced Lotor’s heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> iiii apologize for cheesiness and for the eragon reference


	32. time for another talk

Talking to Lance had made Keith felt so much better, and a part of him wanted to talk to Shiro. He wanted to find out if there was a way to help him move in. He wasn’t sure if this was one of the situations where Shiro could. Was this a Harry Potter situation where Shiro chose this and would be on Earth for the rest of eternity? Or was this like Being Human where Shiro had to find out what lingering business he had and move on? If it was like Being Human, what was Shiro holding on to? Was it Keith and Allura? Was it Matt? Or was it something stupid, like he felt bad for his horrendous cooking? Keith could live with it being that. Hell, he almost hoped it was that. Even Shiro had to admit that his cooking was the absolute worst. Plus, it would be so much easier that way. All Keith had to say that it was okay, and Shiro could just move on. Maybe…

The only question was… How did one approach the subject? ‘Hey, you’ve been a ghost for a long time, and I’m getting sick of it. Time to get you to move on, buddy.’ Yeah, no. That wasn’t the kindest way of putting it. God, there really needed to be a guide book on this kind of stuff. If only more people could see ghosts, then there probably would be one. But nope, people just had to be so close minded. That wasn’t the only evidence of people being so close minded, though… Yikes.

This whole situation felt so much stranger than usual. Sure, Keith had helped other ghosts move on before, but that was different. All ghosts were different when it came to moving on. Some stayed forever, some moved on. It really depended on the ghost. Plus, this ghost was Keith’s brother. His own flesh and blood. One of the most important people in Keith’s life. Keith didn’t want to let Shiro go, but he knew this situation wasn’t very healthy for anyone. Everyone needed to move on like normal people would.

Normal… Normal felt like a weird thing to think. Okay, yeah, Keith was pretty emo. Or maybe he just had a really dysfunctional family. Either way, normal felt like such a foreign concept to him. “Normal is just a setting on the dryer,” as his father would say. That was a stupid saying…

Anyways… Keith really needed to talk to Shiro about this. Keith couldn’t accept Shiro just staying on Earth for the rest of eternity. Something needed to happen. They needed to find out what path Shiro was on. Would he be able to move on? Just the thought of Shiro not being able to move on made Keith’s chest tighten with anxiety.

Fortunately, Keith didn’t have to dwell on it for much longer. With a snap, Shiro appeared in the room, looking serious.

“Keith, I need to talk to you,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i uhhhhhhhhhhh  
> really love sally malik  
> oh yeah i don't know if i've mentioned this but this story is HIGHLY inspired by the tv show being human (i watched the us version bc netflix didn't have the uk version)


	33. moving on and a date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more klance!

“What’s up?” Keith asked. Shiro sighed.

“It’s… about me moving on,” he said. Keith’s back straightened immediately.

“Yeah?” he asked. Shiro paused.

“I think I know what needs to be done for me to be able to do it,” he said. For a second, it didn’t seem like he’d elaborate. Keith stared at him for a moment. When Shiro noticed, he shook his head.

“Sorry… I think… I need to know that you and Alura are going to be okay. I need to see the two of you move on,” Shiro continued. Keith’s mouth fell open a bit. Of course, this was what he’d expected, but it wasn’t what he wanted. Move on? From his brother? No, he couldn’t. How? Keith loved Shiro so much. He knew that he would have to move on someday, but to have someone relying on him doing so? To have someone to need him to do it? Now, he couldn’t take his time. He had to hurry, for Shiro’s sake. He couldn’t just let Shiro wait on him like that.

“A-Are you sure?” Keith asked. He heard his voice crack just the slightest bit. He couldn’t stop the emotions. Keith couldn’t lose Shiro twice. Not so soon. Shiro nodded grimly.

“Yeah. I’m sure,” he said. The two were silent for a moment.

“What… What do you want Allura and me to do?” Keith asked. Blinking, Shiro thought for a second.

“I think… I want Allura to move on. I want Allura to find somebody else to love. I want her to love someone who loves her back. I want her to love someone that makes her happy, and who she’s sure that she makes happy. For you… I want you and Lance to get together,” Shiro said. At the mention of Lance, Keith felt his face heat up a bit.

“Hey!” he said. His voice almost rose to a yell. Amused, Shiro stared at him for a second.

“Hay is for horses. Aren’t you glad you’re a jackass?” Shiro asked. Keith frowned.

“I know I walked right into that, but I’m still really offended,” he said. Shiro chuckled.

“Good. Maybe you can use that one on Lance, if you ever get into another lover’s quarrel,” Shiro teased. Keith’s face turned so red that he began to resemble Tinker Bell.

“You know what? Keep on, and you can plan on staying on Earth forever,” Keith said. Shit. Did he cross a line? Nope, Shiro was laughing.

“Cool. Then I can mope about not being allowed in the Headless Hunt,” he said. Keith giggled.

“They’d shoot you down so fast,” he said. Shiro laughed again.

“They would,” he said.

* * *

 

Keith was in a dilemma. Shiro needed Keith to ask out Lance to help him move on, but some part of Keith was just too nervous to do so. He knew that Lance liked him back, but some part of him couldn’t help but doubt it. Some part of him continued to doubt that Lance would react positively to Keith asking him out. Everytime he thought about asking Lance out, his heart rate rose so quickly, he thought it might burst out of his chest. It always took him a moment to calm down. It was quite a bit frustrating, to say the least. It didn’t help that he knew Shiro wouldn’t help him with the whole situation. Not that Keith wanted his help, but it would be nice to know that he could rely on Shiro with this if he needed to. Shiro wouldn’t get involved. He wouldn’t talk to Lance for Keith, he wouldn’t hint at Keith’s feelings to Lance, nothing. All he would do was listen to Keith rant. Nothing else.

Irritated, Keith let out an angry sigh. Not wanting to be too obvious about his frustration, Keith restrained himself from muttering under his breath. Unfortunately for Keith, the sigh was just enough.

Lance had noticed Keith’s irritation; he was looking at him.

“What’s wrong?” Lance asked. Did Keith really want to talk about this? No, not really. However, he needed to get closer to Lance, so he’d try to talk about it.

“Have you talked to Shiro?” Keith asked. Lance shook his head.

“No, not really. Why?” Lance scooted forward a little in his seat. Well, there went Keith’s attempt. If Lance didn’t know what Shiro had said about moving on, could Keith explain it? Highly unlikely.

Keith sighed again.

“It’s just… complicated,” Keith said. Confused, Lance frowned.

“Complicated how?” he asked.

“Complicated, as in really uncomfortable,” Keith said. Lance fidgeted a bit, thinking.

“Could you tell me what he said? I mean, you don’t have to, if you don’t want to. I don’t want to push you too much. I just… You know…” Lance trailed off. He seemed to become increasingly awkward. Keith took a deep breath.

“Shiro found out how to move on… Part of it is… you and me getting into a relationship,” Keith said. Surprised, Lance let out a strange noise.

“I thought we already were,” he said. Keith sighed, exasperated.

“No, Lance. To be in a relationship, you have to talk about it first,” he said. How did he know this but not Lance? Lance opened his mouth, then closed it. The gears were spinning in his brain. He sat there for a moment. Finally, realization struck.

“Oh, shit, right. Yeah,” he said. Keith slapped himself in the forehead with his palm open.

“Goddammit, Lance,” he said. Lance giggled sheepishly.

“Yeah, that was kind of dumb,” he said. Keith cracked a smile.

“Kind of?” he asked. Lance sighed.

“Yeah, that was really dumb,” he said. Keith chuckled. For a second, he swore he saw Lance’s eyes sparkle. Was it because he laughed? Probably. Certain people seemed to have some obsession with Keith laughing.

“Yeah, it was,” Keith agreed. The two were silent for a moment. Both hated awkward conversation, and both knew the next conversation topic was going was to be really awkward. After a moment, Lance sighed, seeming to have finally prepared himself for the awkwardness.

“So…” Lance trailed off. He’d zoned out.

“So?” Keith asked. Lance shook his head, returning his attention to Keith.

“So, Keith Kogane, would you do me… the honor of going on a date with me tonight?” he asked. At the pause, Keith rolled his eyes.

“Yes,” Keith said. Lance grinned.

“Oh, hells yeah!” he exclaimed. Keith paused.

“McDonalds doesn’t count as a date,” Keith told him. Lance pretended to pout.

“How dare you?! McDonald’s has the perfect atmosphere!” He crossed his arms. Keith snorted.

“How dare you consider that? McDonald’s has the worst atmosphere!” he said. Lance shook his head.

“That’s a lie! An absolute lie!” he said. Both of the boys cracked up.

“Although, we won’t go to McDonald’s, I seriously don’t agree that it doesn’t count. Anything counts as a date as long as you consider it that way,” Lance said. Keith nodded thoughtfully.

“That’s true, I suppose,” he said. The two were silent again.

“So, where do you want to go?” Lance asked. Keith thought for a second.

“I don’t know,” he said. Slowly, Lance started to grin, causing Keith to shoot him a worried look.

“How about Arby’s?” he asked. Keith sighed.

“Why am I going out with you, again?” he asked.

“Because you wuuuuvv me!” Lance said. He hopped forward, tackling Keith. Keith grunted in surprise, face warming.

“Love me, Kogane-Senpai,” Lance joked. Keith groaned.

“You’re not helping your case,” Keith said. Lance giggled, rolling off of Keith to sit next to him on the couch.

“Aw, Keefy,” Lance said. Keith stared at him.

“Alright, fine, Arby’s is good. But only because the inside looks fancier than McDonald’s,” Keith said. Lance laughed again, cheering.

“Alright!” he said. Keith rolled his eyes.

“The things I do for you and Shiro,” he murmured.

* * *

 

When Lance pulled into the parking lot of the closest Arby’s restaurant, Keith zipped his jacket. It might’ve been spring already, but it was still freezing. Fucking Jet Stream. Because the Jet Stream passed over the state some days and not on other days, the weather was absolutely ridiculous. Some days were too hot to even wear jeans, and other days were so cold that not even a coat could completely block out the cold.

In the short walk into the restaurant, Keith’s cheeks had already started to turn a rosy color from the cold. When Keith entered the warm restaurant, his cheeks immediately began to warm, reminding Keith of days spent in the snow as a kid. Startling Keith a bit, Lance made a strange noise. It was almost like a stifled squeal, but not quite.

“What?” Keith asked. Lance was staring at him, grinning.

“You’re cheeks are pink,” Lance said. Keith blinked.

“What?” he asked. Lance frowned.

“It’s adorable?” His voice came out as a question. Ah, yes, of course, another social cue missed. Fuck. Keith’s face reddened.

“Um, thanks, I guess,” he mumbled. Lance chuckled.

* * *

 

Maybe Lance’s opinion on splurging on a date was buying his date as much food as they wanted. Lance paid for the meal, insisting that Keith get as much food as he wanted. It was almost embarrassing, but Keith appreciated it nonetheless.

“Dude, zucchini bread is fucking best. How have you not tried it before?” Lance asked. Keith shrugged.

“I don’t know. We never had a lot of money, so my dad never wanted to get it. Neither did Shiro. Well, Shiro wanted to, but he didn’t think we had enough money. It already costed us a lot for us to come here,” he said. Concerned, Lance frowned.

“That’s rough. I’m sorry,” he said. Keith shrugged again.

“It’s fine,” he said. Suddenly, Lance grinned. Why was he constantly grinning? Lance must’ve thought all of his ideas were the shit.

“That just means, I can impress you all the more easily. I can get you whatever food you want!” Lance said. Keith snorted.

“Hold it there. I’m not that easily impressed,” he said. Lance sighed, mock pouting.

“Oh, well, I tried,” he said. Keith snickered.

“You didn’t try very hard then,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Lance nodded.

* * *

 

Lance was right. Anywhere could be a date, as long as you considered it that way. Both boys had a great time at Arby’s. Keith would even admit it if asked. The two laughed so much, they were pretty sure they irritated the people around them. Keith swore he saw a few people glaring. Unfortunately for them, that only made Keith laugh harder. At the sight of Keith’s smiling face, Lance’s face shone brighter. He almost looked like Ginormica from Monsters VS Aliens after being hit by the meteor. Obviously, Keith had to voice this thought out loud, which made Lance laugh so hard, it was silent. It wasn’t even that funny, but the giggly mood that had been set caused a bigger reaction than necessary.

Finally, Lance suggested that they should calm down. At least a little.

“They’re gonna fucking kick us out,” Lance whispered. As he spoke, he continued to giggle, only more quietly.

“Probably,” Keith said. He kept his voice as quiet as Lance’s.

Someone sighed a sigh of relief, making it harder to contain their giggles.

* * *

 

When Keith and Lance finally came home, Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro were waiting in the living room for them. When they heard the two giggling too each other, their mouths turned up into smug grinned.

“How’d it go?” Pidge asked. They wiggled their eyebrows. Keith groaned.

“Ah, yes, you guys want us to be together so bad, you’re interrogating us and making us uncomfortable,” Keith said. Pidge snickered at the sarcasm in his voice.

“Yes, obviously,” they said. Shiro looked at Hunk and Pidge.

“Maybe we should interrogate them separately,” he said. Both nodded.

“Yes, yes, a splendid idea,” Hunk said. Amused, Shiro and Pidge nodded back. Keith groaned again.

“I’m going to bed,” he said. The three cracked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #giveshiroadoor2k18


	34. more talking, more feelings, more allura

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shiro literally has no weight

Shiro fronwed. He tried bouncing on the bed, causing the cold air around him to follow. Seeing as Shiro had no weight, the bouncing had no effect on the bed. The bed didn’t give the creak of protest it always gave Keith.

“This is upsetting. I can’t bounce on your bed anymore to irritate you,” Shiro said. Keith frowned.

“Good. Fuck that,” he said. Shiro chuckled.

“Yeah, that's how you knew I was about to interrogate you,” he said. He smiled fondly, causing Keith to want to gag. Or, at the very least, want to pretend to do so. Shiro sounded so cheesy. When Shiro saw the look on Keith’s face, he chuckled again.

“Maybe being dead has made me a bit nostalgic,” he said. Keith nodded.

“Obviously,” he said.

“Oh, hey, give me a break. If you were a ghost, you’d understand,” he said. Keith shrugged.

“Maybe I would,” he said. Shiro grinned.

“No, you definitely would,” he corrected.

“Now you’re just pushing it,” Keith said, shaking his head.

“Maybe so,” Shiro said. He changed his tone, mimicking the girl in the Vine video. Keith snorted.

“Lance has had too much on an affect on us,” Keith said, shaking his head. Shiro laughed.

“He has,” Shiro agreed. The look on Shiro’s face showed that he was glad for it. As embarrassed as he was for it, Keith knew that Shiro was just happy someone was making him smile again and stopping him from moping so much. Lance had been such a good influence on him. Not that Keith would admit it, though. It would only add to Lance’s ego, and Lance needed more self-esteem, not ego. Somehow, the two were different, and Lance had more than enough ego.

* * *

 

“Aw, that’s cute. I feel bad for everyone else around you, though,” Hunk said. Lance sighed.

“Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you have to say it,” he said. Hunk laughed.

“Yeah, but I want to,” he said. Lance frowned.

“Of course you do.” Lance had just spent the past half hour describing what happened on his date with Keith to Hunk and Pidge. It only took so long because they kept asking him to elaborate. Plus, they teased him the entire time. Several times, Lance stopped and refused to continue until the two shut up. If it weren’t for Pidge and Hunk’s teasing and constant interruptions, Lance would’ve awkwardly summed up the date in about a minute and a half. However, in comparison to the hell Matt would’ve brought to the situation, maybe Pidge and Hunk’s teasing wasn’t so bad. The other two in the room might’ve been closer to Lance, but Matt had the advantage of having a similar personality to Matt. The two had their differences, but it was the similarity that made it so much easier for the two come up with more embarrassing jokes. They knew each other’s weak points. It was a curse and a gift.

Speaking of Matt… Just because Matt wasn’t here didn’t mean Lance didn’t have to explain what happened. At least the torture of Matt’s teasing wouldn’t be as bad. Lance was going to text him about the date. Of course, Matt would probably call him to fit some extra teasing in, but Lance didn’t really care. He’d just press ignore, much to Matt’s chagrin.

“So, Lance…” Hunk said. Lance looked at him.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Where are you taking out Keith on your next date?” Hunk asked. Lance threw his hands up in the air.

“Why do I have to? Shouldn’t Keith be the one to do it? I took him out this time; it should be his turn,” Lance said. Hunk frowned.

“Technically, yes. However, you’d impress Keith if you take him out again. Plus, you kind of picked a really cheap place for a first date,” Hunk said.

“Yeah, that’s true…” Crossing his arms, Lance chewed on the inside of his mouth. Despite what he boasted to everyone, Lance wasn’t the best with relationships. Especially not in their earliest stages. Every relationship was different and allowed different levels of comfort around each other, and the period where the partners had to figure it out always made Lance uncomfortable. It was scary. He was afraid of messing it up.

“Lance, buddy?” Hunk asked. His voice was amused, immediately embarrassing Lance.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“I know you really like Keith, but Keith likes you too. Please don’t worry so much,” Hunk said. Lance’s face felt warm. Yeah, he definitely liked Keith a lot.

“I’ll try,” he mumbled. Hunk grinned. He obviously didn’t believe him.

* * *

 

Keith and Lance were the only ones home. Well, mostly. Shiro was probably somewhere in the house, testing his ghost powers. His powers were still pretty weak, much to Keith’s amusement. Keith and Lance were sat on the couch in front of the TV. Lance was sprawled out, feet resting in Keith’s lap.

“So, how was being interrogated like a prisoner?” Keith asked. Lance smiled at him.

“Not too bad. I mean, talking about you is always fun, it was just the teasing I couldn’t stand,” he said. Looking down, Keith’s face reddened. Keith and Hunk were the two cutest people on the planet when embarrassed.

“Aw, shut up,” Keith said. Lance chuckled.

“Nah, I’d rather continue this conversation,” he said. Trying and failing to hold back a smile, Keith looked back up at Lance.

“Fine,” he said. Lance grinned.

“My persuasive skills are getting better,” he said. Grinning, Keith shook his head.

“Nah, I think I just like you too much,” he said.

“I’m not sure whether I should be offended or not,” Lance said. Keith shrugged.

“Take it as you will,” he said. The two silent for a moment, both with dreamy smiles on their faces.

“Really, though… Spending time with you does make all the teasing worth it,” Keith said. The grin on Lance’s face grew.

“Really?” Lance resisted the urge to tease Keith. He wouldn’t want him to take back what he just said.

“Yeah, really,” Keith said. Lance wiggled his toes in Keith’s face.

“Aw, thanks, buddy,” he said. Rolling his eyes, Keith winced in disgust.

“Your feet smell, get them away from me,” he said. Lance pulled his legs up close to his chest.

“Is this far enough?” Lance asked. Keith sighed.

“You know what I meant,” he said. Grinning, Lance put his feet back into Keith’s lap. 

* * *

 

“Hey, Shiro…?” Keith asked. Sighing, Shiro finally gave up on trying to lift the lamp on the side table in front of him.

“Yeah, Keith?” he asked.

“I-- Well, I was going to ask if you’d talked to Allura, but I guess you can’t really do that…” Keith said. Shiro smiled softly.

“No, I haven’t. I haven’t asked anyone to do so either. You think I should talk to her soon, don’t you?” he asked. Keith nodded.

“Yeah. Lance and I are a step closer to helping you, so I thought maybe you might want to focus on Allura,” he said. With another sigh, Shiro frowned to himself.

“I suppose I should… I just don’t want to push her, you know? She needs time to be able to move on. Plus, she doesn’t see me as often as you guys do,” he said. Keith nodded thoughtfully.

“Maybe we could invite her over more?” he asked. Shiro nodded.

“That could work,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> iii think i'm going to start fixing the spaces and stuff on here now  
> probably won't get it all done right now tho


	35. work and flirting

Keith and Shiro had come up with a bit more of a plan. Keith would text Allura every other day she had off, asking her if she wanted to hang out. He would try to get her to spend as much time with Shiro as he could without making it too obvious that something was up. Keith wanted her to spend enough time with Shiro that she would realize that she needed to move on. He and Shiro would wait until they thought Allura could handle the information on how Shiro was to move on; too much at once might break her. Obviously, that was something they didn't want. If Allura got too upset, it might take even longer for Shiro to move on. Keith didn’t want to risk Shiro never moving on.

Despite this, it wasn’t that Keith didn’t care for Allura. He truly did care for her and her feelings. He didn’t want to get hurt. However, Keith’s concerns rested more so on Shiro. Maybe it was the how long the pain would last. Allura’s pain would be temporary, dreadful as it was, but Shiro’s pain could be permanent. Even if Keith didn’t want to cause Allura any more pain, he knew that it would cause less pain in the long run. Allura would recover. Even if she didn’t, Keith knew she would die some day. She’d feel release. However, Shiro, if not helped through this, wouldn’t get that release. He’d continue to be tormented by such emotions forever as he lingered on Earth.

Keith just hoped Allura wouldn’t hate him if he focused too much on Shiro’s happiness and not hers. He doubted she would; she loved Shiro just as much as she did. However, that didn’t mean that she couldn’t end up feeling hurt over it. This situation felt too complicated. In all the time Keith had been ghost hunting, this felt the most difficult. None of the jobs he had taken were so personal to Keith. However, this wasn’t a job. This was something that Keith had to do for his own happiness.

Because of how busy Keith had been with Shiro, he hadn’t been working as much lately. Considering that, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were the ones that mainly paid for Keith to live with them. Keith felt bad about that, and he knew he should start trying harder to find work. Maybe he’d even get a part-time job if more people didn’t hire him for ghost-related jobs.

“You know, if you worked at McDonald’s you could pick up food for Lance after your shift. He’d be pretty grateful,” Shiro said. Keith rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, right. Me? Working at McDonald’s? I’ll pass,” he said. Shiro snorted.

“Too high and mighty for a popular food chain?” he asked. Keith stared at him for a second.

“No, I just meant I _really_ don’t want to work there,” he said. Shiro chuckled.

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to ruin the little bit of good McDonald’s food has. Lance would be devastated,” he said. Keith smirked.

“On second thought, maybe I _should_ work there,” he said. Shiro shook his head.

“Nope, you really,” he said. Keith hummed in agreement, still grinning to himself. The thought of the look on Lance’s face was pretty amusing. His jaw would drop, his eyes would widen, and he’d let out a horrified gasp. _Keith did this on purpose?_ Had Keith wanted to work at McDonald’s, yes, yes he would have. Fortunately for Lance, Keith wasn’t going to work at McDonald’s.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Keith?” Lance asked. Keith looked up.

“Hmm?” he asked.

“Mind holding something for me?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Keith said. He held his hand out. Immediately, a grin began to spread across Lance’s face. He dropped his hand into Keith’s, causing Keith’s face to redden a bit.

“Thanks, buddy,” Lance said. Keith rolled his eyes.

“You’re the worst,” he said. Lance chuckled.

“You know it,” he said.

The two were silent for a moment. Soon, Keith leaned his head on Lance’s shoulder apprehensively. He could feel Lance tense a bit. For a moment, it seemed that Lance was uncomfortable, but Lance wrapped his arm around Keith.

“Hey, Keith?” Lance asked again.

“Yeah?” Keith asked. Lance paused.

“How long do you think it’ll take for Allura to move on?” he asked. Keith sighed.

“I’m not sure…” he said. His voice trailed off, losing himself in his thoughts. Lance’s question was something Keith had tortured himself with, asking it to himself over and over again. All he wanted was for her and Shiro’s happiness.

“I wasn’t sure either, but I’m sure it’s going to be okay. It usually is,” Lance said. Keith sighed.

“That was _really_ cheesy, Lance,” he said. Lance hummed in amusement.

“Yeah, well, that tends to happen when I’ve watched too much TV,” he said. Keith snorted.

“Yep, blame it on the TV,” he joked.

“Yes, absolutely,” Lance said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhh i found more inspiration, be proud of me


	36. childish

Today was the day that Allura was coming over, and Keith still hadn’t found a job. He hadn’t yet told Allura that he was looking for one, but it would’ve been nice to have a job by the time that she came over. It would be nice to see how proud she was of him. Keith wasn’t moping as much anymore; he was finding a way to help Shiro move on and to help himself move on. Maybe it would’ve even helped inspire Allura to try harder to move on; Keith knew she was trying already. However, sometimes, people just needed a push to help them carry on faster.

“Hey, Keith, before Allura comes over, I want to show you something cool I’ve learned to do. Tell me how impressive it is, so maybe I can show Allura,” he said. Keith frowned.

“Flirting with her isn’t a good idea right now,” he said. Shiro sighed.

“You’re right… But I still want to show you,” he said. Keith nodded.

“Sure, show me,” he said.

Shiro took a few steps back and turned to face the floor lamp sitting in one of the corners of the room. For a second or two, Shiro stared at the lamp focusing. Slowly, Shiro held out his hand and lifted the lamp. He held it for a few seconds, before quickly, but carefully, setting it down. Once the lamp was safely on the ground, Shiro turned to Keith, looking proud of himself.

“Well… I never thought I’d be so proud of someone for lifting lamp, but nice job. But when did you learn to do that? Just the other day you couldn’t even lift a table lamp,” Keith said. Shiro’s eyebrows furrowed. After a sigh, he looked back up at Keith.

“I’m not sure… I’ve just been feeling a bit more… powerful lately?” Shiro said. The questioning sound in this voice concerned Keith a bit. _Oh no,_ this was absolutely _not_ going to turn into a _Dream Reaper_ kind of thing. Keith didn’t live in the Being Human universe. Well, when he thought about it, Keith’s life was beginning to feel a bit too much like that show… _Ahem_.

Anyways, this was hard enough on Shiro right now. Keith shouldn’t ruin Shiro’s mood too much.

“Just don’t go evil on me,” Keith said. He cracked a small smile. Shiro grinned.

“No promises,” he said. Keith’s hands shot up, straightened out in a threatening manner. That’s right, he knew martial arts. Well… Not really. He kind of forgot most of the moves.

“Don’t make me exorcise you,” he joked. Shiro chuckled.

“Fine, I guess I won’t. You don’t have enough money to pay for all that salt. Well, excluding the salt that came with your personality,” he said. When Keith’s mouth fell open, Shiro burst out laughing.

“That is _so_ rude! At least I’m trying to find a job!” Keith said. Shiro smiled softly.

“Yes, you are,” he said. When Keith saw the _‘proud dad’_ look on his face, he stuck his tongue out at him.

With a sigh, Keith leaned back in his seat. As if on cue, Lance entered the room, looking tired. When Lance saw Keith, his face automatically brightened.

“What is _up_ my cranky crew?” Lance asked. At the loud tone in Lance’s voice, Keith raised an eyebrow.

“You’re the tired looking one,” he said. Grinning, Lance shook his head.

“No, it’s a reference,” he said

“I kind of figured that,” Keith said. The three were silent for a moment.

“Lance, did you mess up the blanket on the couch again?” Shiro asked. Lance’s mouth fell open, clearly offended.

“I did _not_! That was Keith!” he said. This time, Keith was the one who looked offended.

“I did _not_! You did! You literally pulled the blanket down on top of you!” he said. He threw his hands up in the air defensively. Lance mimicked him.

“After you already messed it up! You pulled up the bottom of the blanket!” he argued. Shiro sighed, grinning to himself.

“Children, children, please,” he said. Both men whipped their heads around to look at Shiro.

“Rude!” Lance yelled.

“He’s the child. Not me,” Keith said. Shiro frowned.

“Please don’t make me sigh again,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah, fine. Keith was still the one that did it,” Lance said. Keith’s eyes widened. However, before he could give Lance a snarky retort, Shiro cut in again.

“It doesn’t matter who did it. Both of you go fix it,” Shiro said. With a bit of grumbling from Lance and a sigh from Keith, the two walked into the living room. Grinning, Shiro shook his head himself. _Children. Both of them._


	37. disappearance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ague argoo ar goo ar green goo  
> i wanna scream

When Allura arrived, Keith was the one to open the door for her. While the two chatted for a moment, Lance went to go get Shiro.

When Lance entered the room, Shiro looked apprehensive. However, Lance only saw it for a second. When Shiro saw Lance, he quickly changed his facial expression, smiling a bit.

“Hey, Lance. Is Allura here?” he asked. Lance nodded.

“She is, but… are you okay?” he asked. Shiro paused for so long, it almost seemed like he wasn’t going to respond. Finally, he sighed.

“I guess so… I’m just a bit nervous about Allura, that’s all. Anyways, let’s go,” he said. Lance didn’t believe he was fine, but he nodded anyway. Now wasn’t really the time to push him about it, and Lance didn’t really think it was his place to push him. Lance still didn’t feel close enough to Shiro to do so. Or rather, Shiro was the Captain Holt to Lance’s Amy Santiago. Lance was a bit too in awe of Shiro to want to push him. Shiro was someone Lance respected, and he didn’t want to lose the chance of making that a mutual feeling between the two.

“Hey, Allura,” Shiro said. Allura’s head jerked up in surprise, but she quickly smiled.

“Shiro!” she said. Quickly, the mood became awkward, and everyone was silent for a moment. Lance’s eyes darted back and forth between the three. _Think, Lance, think_. Allura opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Lance piped up.

“Keith? Can you come here for a second?” he asked. Keith nodded, standing up quickly. A bit _too_ quickly. Allura casted him a confused glance, but didn’t say anything. The two quickly shuffled out of the living room, leaving Allura and Shiro alone.

Lance dragged Keith to his room, thinking it was better not to eavesdrop on the two. Once the door was closed, Lance flopped onto his bed. Sighing, Keith sat down carefully next to him.

“How long do you think this is going to take?” Lance asked. Keith shrugged.

“I have no idea. Allura is pretty stubborn, and depending on how she feels about all of this, this could drag on for a long time,” he replied. For a moment, Lance looked nervous, but he soon began to grin.

“Hey, what a great relationship we’re in. We’ve barely been going out, and we’re already living together,” he said. Snorting, Keith rolled his eyes.

“Yes, perfect. Not suspicious or weird at all,” he said. Lance giggled.

“Not at all, Keith. Have you ever been in a relationship?” he asked. Keith frowned a little.

“No,” he said. Lance’s mouth fell open.

“Seriously?!” he asked. Keith grinned.

“Do middle school relationships that lasted only a week count?” he asked. Lance shook his head insistently.

“Absolutely not!” he said. Keith sighed.

“Then I guess I haven’t,” he said. Lance grinned.

“Well, boy do I feel special,” he said. Puffing his chest out, Lance crossed his arms. At this, Keith grinned back at him, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t let it go to your head,” he said.

“Oh, too late,” Lance said. He tapped the side of his head, indicating it was already there. Rolling his eyes in amusement, Keith sighed.

“Why do I tell you anything?” he asked. Lance grinned.

“Because that’s how relationships work, Keith! I’ll let you off the hook since you’ve never been in one though,” he said. Keith rolled his eyes again, not quite as amused as before.

“Thin ice, Lance,” he warned. Lance snickered.

“Yeah, yeah, _fine_. I’ll stop teasing you then, I guess,” he said. Keith’s lips twitched in amusement.

“You better. Otherwise, payback will come your way,” he said. Lance wiggled his eyebrows.

“What kind of payback?” he asked. Instead of responding verbally, Keith threw a pillow at Lance’s head.

“That kind,” Keith said. Snatching the pillow before it fell of the bed, Lance threw the pillow back at Keith.

“Pillow talk, I like it,” he said. Keith groaned. This time, he threw _two_ pillows at Lance. One of the pillows missed, causing Lance to laugh at Keith.

“You are the absolute worst,” Keith said. Lance laughed again.

“And yet you’re dating me… I’m pretty sure that says something about you,” he said. Once reaching to pick up the missed pillow off of the floor, Lance threw both pillows back at Keith.

“I--Okay, you’re right, but I’m keeping these pillows now,” Keith said.

“You give up so easily,” Lance said. Leaning back a little, he picked up a pillow up from the by the end of the bed. Suspicious, Keith raised an eyebrow. Confirming the other man’s suspicion as truth, Lance threw the pillow at him. When the pillow reached him, Keith didn’t try to stop it; he just sighed.

“No, I assure you, that just like you, I don’t know when to quit,” Keith said.

What did Keith do next? Yep, you guessed it; he threw the pillow right back at Lance.

Before Lance could retort, however, there was a knock on Lance’s door.

“Are you two in here?” Allura asked. Keith and Lance glanced at each other. When Keith continued to stare at him, Lance reluctantly got up and opened the door.

“Hey, what’s up, Allura?” he asked. Allura smiled at Lance as if she was a teacher listening to a student incorrectly trying to answer a question. She didn’t seem unkind, but it didn’t leave a pleasant feeling in Lance’s stomach.

“Lance, are you trying to help me move on?” she asked. Lance frowned.

“Kind of. Why?” he asked. Allura shook her head.

“I’m just wondering is all. You didn’t think I’d notice when you left the room with Keith?” she said. Frowning, Lance shrugged.

“I don’t know… I wasn’t really thinking about it,” he said. Allura smiled softly.

“I appreciate it, Lance, but I really need to do this on my own,” she said. Behind Lance, Keith slid into the floor.

“No, it isn’t,” Keith said. His eyebrows were furrowed in irritation. Allura frowned at him.

“Yes, Keith. I can’t just have everyone help me with all my problems,” she said. Keith stood up and starting walking toward the door.

“You’re not relying on everyone with _all_ your problems. This is tough, and you can’t just shut us all out,” he snapped. Mirroring Keith, Allura crossed her arms.

“I’m not shutting you all out! If I were, I’d be leaving right now! Just because I’m not talking to people about this doesn’t mean I need help,” she said. Keith shook his head.

“Yeah, but that’s the thing. You _do_ need help. _I_ need help, and I’m getting it. All _you’re_ doing is bottling it all up. That helps no one! We’re never going to get anywhere if you keep being stubborn about this,” he said. Frustrated, Allura bit her lip. She stared at Keith, looking as if she couldn’t find the words to respond.

“Pushing me too hard isn’t going to help anyone either! I need to take this at my _own_ pace, not yours,” she said. Keith clenched his fest, grinding his teeth. It didn’t seem as if either was willing to back down.

“Both of you, stop! Okay? Arguing isn’t getting us anywhere!” Lance said.

Both stared at him in shock. The look on his face mirrored their own. Even with all the arguments the two had had, the look on Lance’s face almost scared Keith. Lance looked so much more serious, more mature. He was stressed out too.

With a jolt, Keith realized that Shiro was standing behind Allura in the hallway. Guilt. His face was plastered with guilt. This wasn’t what he wanted. Instead of protecting Allura, all he had done was raise tensions. When Allura turned around and noticed Shiro’s facial expression, she seemed to crumble. Her shoulders shook, her breath came out quicker, her arms squished to her sides, her hands covering her mouth. Shiro wasn’t the only one to show the guilt felt inside anymore. Everyone felt it.

“I’m sorry, Allura,” Shiro said. With a sudden loud snap, Shiro disappeared into thin air. The noise was louder than usual, leaving the three’s ears ringing. The air felt much more silent than it was supposed to.

“Oh, God,” Keith whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cliffhanger me father figure


	38. fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *squints eyes* nani? the fuck?

The house still felt quiet when Hunk returned home. Immediately, he realized something was wrong. Allura had left, and when he realized this, his concern only increased. The house felt warmer than it had lately. Still, Hunk couldn’t himself from shivering nervously.

When Hunk walked into the door, Keith and Lance were huddled together on the couch. Lance was stroking Keith’s hair as Keith tightened his arms around Lance.

“Hey… What, uh, what happened?” Hunk asked. Keith looked up at Lance, who nodded.

“A lot, actually… You might want to sit down for this,” Lance said.

 

With several interruptions from Keith, Lance explained to Hunk the day’s events. Hunk listened patiently, not once frowning at how many times Keith and Lance talked over each other. Thankfully, the two didn’t argue, so Hunk didn’t have to intervene. Their spirits seemed too low to even be able to argue. Once the two were finished talking, Hunk was silent for a moment, taking it all in. He imagined the events as they happened, trying to figure how best to react.

“Yeah, you were right. That’s, that’s a lot. Are you okay, Keith?” Hunk asked. Keith nodded reluctantly.

“Yeah, I guess,” he said. Hunk sat back in his seat.

“So, Shiro still hasn’t come back?” he asked. Lance shook his head.

“We looked all around the house, several times, and we haven’t been able to find him,” he said. Hunk frowned.

“Have any ideas where he might be?” he asked. The two were silent for a moment. Hunk looked expectantly at Keith. Out of the two, Hunk was sure that Keith would be the one to think of something.

“I-I’m not sure… I’ve only seen a ghost disappear like that once or twice…” Keith’s voice trailed off as he began thinking again. Hunk hummed in agreement.

“What if he’s in a place that’s special to him? Maybe there’s somewhere he used to always go when he got upset?” Hunk asked. Keith was silent for a moment.

“I’m not sure… I know he liked having his space when he was alive. I’m sure that the habit carried over to when he died. Maybe on a rooftop? Or in the woods? I don’t know…” Keith was grappling for ideas. He couldn’t think of anything, panic clouding his mind. The more he thought, the more he closed up. His shoulder held high on his face, knees pulled up to his chest. He was panicking, and he didn’t know what to do.

“It’s okay, Keith. We’ll find him,” Lance said.

“Even if we don’t, he has to come back. He has to calm down soon,” Hunk said. Lance frowned at Hunk.

“Not helping,” he said.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m pretty nervous too, so I’m just kind of… spewing out ideas,” Hunk said.

“It’s fine,” Keith said.

 

Once Pidge came home, the conversation was repeated. This conversation, however, had the added information of wanting to look for Shiro. When the idea of looking for Shiro came up, Pidge didn’t look very convinced. They shook their head.

“If he left, then it was for a reason. I’m not so sure we should go looking for him,” they said. Keith’s hand tightened around Lance’s.

“What if you’re wrong? What if he’s in trouble, stuck somewhere?” Keith asked. Pidge cocked their head.

“Yeah, there’s that. If that’s what you think, then we should go look for him. However, if he’s still upset, we might want to leave as soon as possible. We shouldn’t risk further upsetting him. Plus, we don’t know how public the place is that he’s in,” they said. Keith nodded.

“I agree with Pidge. Oh, do you think we should leave notes for Shiro? He could freak out if none of us are here,” Hunk said. Lance nodded.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a teacher,,,, english,,, family friend said she'd starting reading this soon. *starts nervously sweating* i'm a good writer i sWEAR


	39. searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shiro,,,, get your ass down from that tree

Buckling his seatbelt, Lance gave Keith a reassuring smile. It only worked a little. Only the slightest bit of Keith’s worry was quelled. 

“Where to first, fearless leader?” he asked. While he was sure Lance’s words were a reference, Keith didn’t say anything. While Lance was cute when he talked about subjects he cared about, Keith wasn’t really in the mood for that kind of conversation. Keith was silent for a second. 

“Clarendon park,” he said. 

Nodding, Lance began to setup the GPS. Keith let out a shaky breath. When he was alive, Shiro rarely got upset like this. He never lashed out, he never disappeared. If he was upset like this, he would tell someone. He’d tell someone that he needed air. It was possible that Shiro hadn’t meant to snap out of the house, but that didn’t stop this whole situation from being terrifying. It didn’t take long for Lance to get on the rode, and he soon turned on the radio. Soft pop music began to play. The song “Unsteady” was playing. Even knowing it was just a coincidence didn’t stop Keith’s hands from shaking. Lance must have felt the same way because he shot Keith a worried glance. Not wanting to participate in a conversation, Keith didn’t speak. He barely even looked at Lance. Keith wasn’t even sure what he could say. He was miserable, and right now, he just wanted some quiet as they looked for Shiro. Riding in silence felt most appealing at the moment. Thankfully, Lance seemed to get the hint; he didn’t say anything. 

It took a while to get to the park, so the quiet lasted a while. Keith could tell that Lance was getting antsy, but neither said anything. Keith was too uncomfortable to say anything, and Lance wanted to respect that. Even through the fidgeting, Lance kept quiet. 

When Keith and Lance finally arrived, Pidge and Hunk were already there. 

“Hey,” Hunk said. His worried eyes drifted to Keith. Uncomfortable, Keith shifted under Hunk’s gaze. 

“Have you guys seen anything?” Lance asked. Pidge shook their head. 

“No, we just got here. We haven’t gotten the chance to actually look for him yet,” they said.  
With a glance, Lance could tell that Keith was disappointed, even in the low light of the sun being almost completely set. For a moment, the four were silent. The awkwardness held weight, causing the group to momentarily forget the problem at hand. Finally, a sigh from Keith pulled them from the silence. 

“I can’t believe how much this place has changed… The playground was so different before,” Keith said. Bittersweet nostalgia was carried in his tone. The sound of it made Lance’s heart ache for his boyfriend. Nostalgia was always a hard thing for him too; he knew how Keith felt, even with the lack of such shared experiences as a playground being replaced in a park. 

“What was it like?” Lance asked. Frowning, Keith thought for a moment. It had been so long, it was difficult remembering. 

“It was mostly wooden, so a bunch of kids wrote all over the bottom. Oh, there were these weird places to sit under this kind of deck like part of the playground. People would lean back in those seats, and then they’d write all over the wood. They’d sign their names all over it, and write dumb shit. There was gum there too, which was kind of gross…” Keith’s voice trailed off as he began to lose himself in thought. The memories of days spent on the playground played through his mind. Hot days, days where Shiro had brought a cooler bag filled with snacks, the few days where Shiro bought him ice cream from an ice cream truck passing bye late afternoon, days where he hid from the people he knew from school. These memories played through Keith’s mind, and not for the first time that day, he felt as if he might cry. He sniffled. Now wasn’t the time; they needed to find Shiro. Everyone was silent for a moment. 

Finally, Keith shook his head and started talking again. 

“Anyways, that’s not the point. Let’s find Shiro,” he said. 

With that, Keith started to walk off. With a glance, he could see that Shiro wasn’t in the wide field to the left of the playground. For now, they had to look in the woods beyond the playground. Lance pulled his phone out of his back pocket to use it as a flashlight. The other three mimicked the motion, pointing their own lights in different directions. 

“Shouldn’t we be calling Shiro’s name?” Lance asked. Hunk shook his head. 

“No, I’m pretty sure that’d be a pretty bad idea. It’s getting late, and I’m sure that people would get pretty annoyed about it. We could get in trouble for being a public disturbance or something,” he said. Lance hummed in agreement, offering no argument. He supposed that calling his name could possibly scare Shiro off. Well, not specifically ‘scare’ him off, but make him want to leave, at least. Lance was pretty sure that it was nigh on impossible to scare Shiro, especially with the fact that he’d already faced death. Well, maybe that’d make him even more scared… Either way, it didn’t matter. 

For a while, the group walked in silence. Nothing was said as they looked for Shiro, causing everything to feel calm yet a bit awkward. The air was thick with emotions, and no one dared speaking. So when Lance said something, the other three jumped a little. 

“What’s that?” he asked. Lance was pointing at a group of trees planted closely together, slightly to the right in front of them. 

“Those are trees, Lance. I know you don’t see them often, but come on, Lance,” Pidge said. Sighing, Lance rolled his eyes. 

“Oh, shut up, I know what trees are. I meant that glowy thingy at the top. You think it’s Shiro?” he asked. Pidge squinted, shining their phone’s flashlight in the direction Lance had been pointing in. 

“Maybe, but I can’t really see,” they said. 

“Wow, Pidge? Not being able to see?” Lance asked sarcastically. Pidge frowned. 

“Okay, I guess I deserved that,” they said. Hunk chuckled, while Keith snorted. 

Lance didn’t rub the burn in, but instead began to walk faster toward the trees, focused. It didn’t take long to reach the trees; they weren’t very far away from where they had been standing. Soon, everyone was close enough to see that it was, in fact, Shiro. He looked bored, with a hint of anxiety. He was staring at the night sky above him.The sounds of the approaching group snapped Shiro to attention, causing him to jerk his head in their direction. When the group registered in his brain, he floated down to the ground apprehensively. 

“Hey…” Shiro said. Keith gave him a nervous smile. 

“Hey,” Keith repeated. There was a slight awkward pause. 

“Are you okay?” Lance asked. Blinking, Shiro sighed. 

“Better than I was. I apologize for worrying you all,” he said. Pidge shook their head. 

“Hey, no, it’s fine! We get it; you just needed some space,” they said. While Pidge’s response did seem to be of some solace, Shiro was still frowning. 

“That’s true, but… I shouldn’t have just disappeared like that,” he said. Keith’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“You left on purpose?” he asked. Shiro shook his head. 

“No, I hadn’t meant to. I just thought of coming here, and then all the sudden, I just was here…” he said. 

“Then it’s not your fault,” Keith said. Shiro sighed. 

“You’re right. I still feel guilty though…” he said. 

“That’s understandable. Just try to remember that this isn’t your fault,” Pidge said. Suddenly, realization dawned on Shiro. Eyes widening, he gasped. 

“Allura! Is she okay?” he asked. The group was silent for a moment. 

“Uh, we’re not entirely sure. She hasn’t said anything; she hasn’t even responded to texts and calls. Although, Coran knows what’s happened, so I’m sure she’s fine?” Hunk said. The questioning tone in Hunk’s voice wasn’t exactly comforting; Shiro tensed up a bit more. 

“Listen, we can’t get to her right now. So, we have to focus on you right now,” Keith said. Reluctantly, Shiro forced himself to relax. 

“I… I guess you’re right… Just let me know if you get word from Allura?” he asked. Nodding, Keith’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“You’re not leaving us, are you?” he asked. Keith looked as if he wanted to argue more, to make his own point, tell Shiro he just couldn’t leave them, but he forced himself to keep his mouth shut. 

“No, I’m not leaving you guys. I’m coming back with you guys,” Shiro assured him. Keith let out a small sigh of relief. 

“So, you’ll come back home with us?” Lance asked. Biting his lip, Shiro paused for a second. Keith stared at him, pleading. 

“Yes, I will,” Shiro said. Once again, Keith allowed his muscles to relax a bit, as did everyone else. 

“So are we going now? I mean, I don’t mean to push you. We can stay here longer, I was just wondering,” Hunk said. Shiro chuckled a bit at the awkwardness in Hunk’s tone. 

“There’s no reason in staying. Let’s go,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo uhhhhhhhhHHhhhHHhhHHH  
> 1) we had to turn our school chromebooks in, so writing might be 230498x slower, i apologize. i will try my best tho. i'm thinking of transferring some of this writing onto my phone , and that way, writing might actually get done more quickly.  
> 2) i'm also writing a fire emblem echoes fanfic for silque x faye, and it's gonna be great  
> oh and another thing. i don't know if i've mentioned this before, but one time, when i was playing sims, i got two gay sims together. at some point, the older brother of one of them came down stairs, and once he saw them, he started cheering. (it's weird, i know) i feel like this is shiro w keith and lance. he just starts cheering at them, and keith goes, "shIRO SHUT THE FUCK UP. wE WERE HAVING A MOMENT."  
> "a bonding moment," lance agrees. at this point, keith starts crying bc lance is such a dumbass.


	40. bottling up emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh so uhhhhh i'm in Emotional Turmoil myself so i kind of,,,,, vented, i guess.

Shiro could tell that his short disappearance had caused change. They way they all looked at him was different. They looked at him as if he might snap at any moment, they treaded carefully, choosing words painfully slowly. Shiro’s disappearance had gotten into their heads that he was different, that they couldn’t express exactly how they felt to him anymore. Less and less did they ask for advice. Even when it was something unrelated to Shiro, they clamped their mouths shut about their emotions when he appeared. It was frustrating, but Shiro couldn’t say he blamed them. He  _ had _ snapped, he  _ had _ shown that he had limits. It was only natural that the four acted more careful around him. 

But just because he understood their point of view didn’t mean that it didn’t cause him unease. The worried glances, the random stopping in the middle of conversations, the lowered voices, the freezing up from awkwardness--all of it. All of it was awful. Shiro couldn’t stand it. He wanted to plead with them, tell them it was still him, tell them they didn’t have to be so careful, but he was afraid of making it worse. He didn’t want to lose anymore of their trust. He didn’t want to risk an argument, another pop of anger, another disappearance. Sure, it was doubtful Shiro would go off again, but everything had been strange lately. He didn’t want to risk anything. 

So he stayed quiet about it. He knew it wasn’t good to bottle up emotions, he knew it wasn’t like him, he knew that this could make him go off again, but…  _ everything _ had been strange lately. It was no surprise that Shiro was acting strange lately too. Still, the little voice in the back of his head wouldn’t quiet itself.  _ This isn’t like you. Talk to them _ , it said. Inside him, it was a tornado of upset thoughts. The louder his thoughts, the worse the pain in his back grew. Yes, his back. Where he’d been shot. His emotions were tied with his death. Emotional pain equaled physical pain. … Astral pain? He wasn’t exactly on the physical plane, if he thought about it. Either way, he felt pain. He knew he needed to talk about it. Finally, the little voice in the back of Shiro’s mind had had enough. It was time for him to talk to someone, to talk to Keith. 


	41. Chapter 41

hey so uhhhhhh i'm gonna Officially abandon this work sorry :/ vld gives me too much anxiety now. i might edit this in a few years and make it into an original story but idk


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